Diocese of Buffalo recommends mergers, closure of 15 churches

Aidan Joly and Dillon Morello

11 minutes ago

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Diocese of Buffalo has recommended the closure or merger of 15 churches in Erie County.

News 4 WIVB obtained the list during a meeting between church officials and parishioners at a meeting at St. Anthony’s Thursday evening.

You can see the full list below:

Family No. 20

• Holy Spirit (Dakota Street): merge with St. Margaret (Hertel Avenue)
• St. Mark (Woodward Avenue): merge with St. Margaret. The school must stay.
• Sainte Rose de Lima (Parker Avenue): merge with Sainte Marguerite
• All Saints (Chadduck Avenue): merge with Assumption (Amherst Street)

Family No. 21

• Saint-Laurent (Avenue E. Delavan): merge with Blessed Trinity (Avenue Leroy)
• SS. Columba Brigid (Hickory Street): merger with St. Martin de Porres (Northampton Street)

Family #22

• Saint-Antoine de Padoue (Court Street): merger with Saint-Louis (Edward Street)
• St. Michael (Washington Street): merge with St. Louis
• Our Lady of Perpetual Help (O’Connell Street): merge with Saint-Louis

Family #23

• Crowning of BVM (Dewitt Street): merger with Assomption

Family #30

• St. John Kanty (Swinburne Street): merge with St. Stanislaus (Peckham Street)
• Saint-Jean Gualbert (Avenue Gualbert): merger with Saint-Stanislas

Family #31

• Saint-Martin de Tours (Abbott Road): merge with Notre-Dame de Charité (South Park Avenue). The school must stay.
• Saint-Thomas d’Aquin (Abbott Road): merge with Sainte-Thérèse (Seneca Street)

Family #32

• Saint-Bernard (Clinton Street): merge with Notre-Dame de Czestochowa (Willowawn Parkway)

The first group of churches to be closed or merged comes as the diocese plans to eliminate about a third of Western New York’s 160 parishes.

The diocese is facing financial difficulties, with declining numbers of priests and parishioners, compounded by an October announcement that it would cost the diocese at least $100 million to resolve nearly 900 sexual abuse cases on children. Nearly 600 of these cases involve clerics, some of whom face multiple allegations.

Some parishes have already announced plans to close, including St. Lawrence in Buffalo and St. Andrew’s in Tonawanda.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.