Ethnic Churches and Clubs Dwindling

May 25, 2003

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On May 25, 2003 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that "the ethnic enclaves that are Pittsburgh's colorful quilt of European nationalities still exist, but their intensity fades with every decade... But the number of ethnic churches and clubs has dwindled, as have the concentrations of nationality groups in places well-known for them... 'When you have intermarriages and people move out to the suburbs, everything changes after that,' said the Rev. Joseph Swierczynski of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Polish Hill... The church is the center of a neighborhood where the census counted 617 people of Polish ancestry in 2000, compared with 937 in 1990. Swierczynski figures his church out-Poles the neighborhood, however, with an estimated 900 of the church's 1,000 families having Polish background."