Diocese of Buffalo plans to merge 34% of its churches to address financial woes

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Diocese of Buffalo is in financial trouble and isn’t counting on prayer alone to get through it.

On Tuesday, the diocese announced plans to merge 34% of its 160 parishes over the next year as part of its “Road to Renewal” program.

It comes amid record attendance, a persistent shortage of priests and the Church’s financial problems, stemming from 900 alleged cases of sexual abuse. Diocese employees estimate the abuse cases will amount to a $100 million settlement.

“We are not the Church we were 40 years ago, 20 years ago, 10 years ago, let alone five years ago,” said Bryan Zielenieski, Vicar of Renewal and Development . “We are an evolving entity.”

Buffalo is just the latest to make such a move nationally, joining other cities like Cincinnati, Columbus and Baltimore to also announce major mergers in recent years due to financial woes.

However, when the difficulties began years ago, the Diocese of Buffalo initially announced it would not close any churches.

“One of the first things that was mentioned was that the revival was not about closing parishes,” Zielenieski said. “Circumstances have changed. We shouldn’t have said that like we did when we started the process.

The diocese has not yet released the list of parishes that are merging, but said parishes will have the opportunity to challenge any decision before it is final and argue why they should or should not merge.

“We may not know all the circumstances and factors that each parish community faces,” Zielenieski said.

But a contribution will still be expected from the churches which merge and from those which do not.

“All of our parishes, all of our entities, we will have to participate to get out of Chapter 11,” said Bishop Michael Fisher.

Fisher would not reveal how much it would cost each person.

A final list of these mergers will be made public by September 1, and the closures are expected to take place between October and June.