CV NEWS FEED // The Dicastery for Clergy has sent letters to 14 parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, calling for them to temporarily suspend their closures or mergers after reviewing parishioners’ appeals to the diocese’s restructuring plan.
“It was very encouraging to me to see that everybody that got their letters at the same time means that the Vatican knows what’s going on here in Buffalo, and that’s important,” local parishioner Ellen Zelasko said, according to ABC affiliate WKBW.
WKBW reported that Zelasko and her husband are cautiously optimistic about the letters’ implications. Their parish, Infant of Prague, was set to close on June 8 and merge with Saints Peter and Paul in Williamsville, New York.
As CatholicVote previously reported, the diocese had announced closures and mergers affecting over half its parishes in September 2024, citing bankruptcy, declining Mass attendance, and a shortage of priests.
After the closures were announced, parishioners attempted to keep the churches open by presenting counter-proposals to the diocese, as CatholicVote also reported.
WKBW reports that the Dicastery’s recent letters stated that the churches were granted a period of recourse in which they would not have to close. The Dicastery noted that it was communicating with the Diocese of Buffalo’s Bishop Michael Fisher.
Mary Pruski, a spokesperson for the group Save Our Buffalo Churches, explained to WKBW that the recourse period gives the diocese time to explore other financial solutions to the bankruptcy caused by sexual abuse settlements.
“Canon law clearly says those are temporary things that can be solved, probably in other ways,” Pruski stated. “Don’t close your parishes.”
Father Peter Santandreu, the diocese’s vice chancellor and adjutant judicial vicar, told reporters about the next steps in the process, according to WKBW.
“What the dicastery of the clergy has given us the opportunity to do is to fill in the gaps,” Fr. Santandreu said. “We can provide more information about the situation here in Buffalo to help them [members of the Dicastery] make an educated decision.”
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