Diocese of Buffalo recommends more suburban church closures

The closures announced Thursday during a meeting at St. John Paul II Parish in Lake View are:

• St. William, 1 Arcade St., West Seneca (home of St. John XXIII Parish)

• St. John Vianney, 2950 Southwestern Boulevard, Orchard Park

• St. Josaphat, 20 Peoria Avenue, Cheektowaga

• Resurrection, 130 Como Park Boulevard, Cheektowaga

• St. James, 496 Terrace Blvd., Depew (home of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish)

• Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, 10 French Road, Depew (home of St. Martha Parish)

• Queen of Angels, 144 Warsaw Street, Lackawanna

• Our Mother of Good Counsel, 3688 South Park Ave., Blasdell

• Saint-Anthony, 306 Ingham Avenue, Lackawanna

• Our Lady of Bistrica, 1619 Abbott Road, Lackawanna

• Sainte-Bernadette, 5930 South Abbott Road, Orchard Park

• St. Anthony, 421 Commercial Street, Farnham

• Sainte-Marie du Lac, 4737 Lake Shore Road, Hamburg

The parishes of the closed churches must merge with the other parishes of the remaining churches. For example, in Cheektowaga, Saint Josaphat would merge with the Queen of Martyrs and the Resurrection with Our Lady Help of Christians.

Furthermore, two parish schools, in Saint-Jean-Vianney and Notre-Dame du Saint-Sacrement, remain open on their current sites, despite the closure of the churches.

This brings to 80 the total number of church closures in eight counties proposed by diocese officials over the past two weeks.

The Revd Bryan Zielenieski, vicar for renewal and development, said the most common refrain from parishioners after presenting the recommendations was: “That hurts”.

“It’s people’s spiritual lives,” he said. “But I also heard things like, ‘We knew something was going to have to happen. We knew we couldn’t maintain what we’ve always done because the pews are emptier. The younger population isn’t not there. So we hear both sides.

Zielenieski said the final numbers could change as the diocese’s renewal team has further discussions with groupings of parishes known as families over the next month.

“That was very clear from the beginning,” he said.

But, he added, “we must look at the reality before us.” He also said a reduction in infrastructure would allow at least priests in the diocese to focus not on maintaining buildings but on ministering to people and providing the sacraments to Catholics.

The recommendations were based on data collected from parishes, and no church, with the exception of Saint-Joseph Cathedral and Notre-Dame de la Victoire Basilica, was safe from the possibility of a merger or a recommendation to close, Zielenieski said.

Bishop Michael W. Fisher cited the diocese’s growing shortage of priests, declining Mass attendance, aging congregations and continued financial pressures in his Chapter 11 bankruptcy case as reasons for efforts to massive restructuring throughout the diocese.

Diocese officials initially gave no details in May when they first announced that about 75 churches and places of worship would have to be closed to make buildings better accommodate the number of available priests.

They have issued a series of merger and closure recommendations since June 3, traveling to each of the diocese’s seven vicariates or geographic regions to discuss the plans with clergy and parish administrators.

Their first stop was in Olean, where eight churches and houses of worship in parts of the Southern Tier were identified as likely to be closed, followed by the announcement of 15 closures in Buffalo, 10 in northern Erie and southern Niagara counties, seven in northern Niagara and Orleans counties, 14 in the western part of the Southern Tier, and 13 in parts of Erie, Genesee, and Wyoming counties.

Parishioners from several of the affected churches have already met to discuss ways to prevent closures.

Diocese officials said the recommendations are not set in stone and that parish families will have the opportunity to offer other possibilities for consideration by mid-July. Final plans will be announced by September 1, and mergers and closures are expected to be completed by 2025.

The current restructuring plan is the most radical in the Diocese of Buffalo since Journey in Faith & Grace resulted in the merger of 100 parishes and the closure of more than 70 churches between 2007 and 2011.