The Diocese of Buffalo recommends the merger of 7 churches within the Vicariate of Niagara/Orléans

RAMSONVILLE, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo’s next round of recommendations came Monday that churches could close or merge as it works to reduce the total number of parishes by about 30%.

The diocese held a meeting with parishes in Niagara and Orleans County.

This comes four days after the diocese released its recommendations for closures and mergers for churches in the city of Buffalo and Northtowns.

At Monday night’s meeting, 7 News’ Pheben Kassahun learned that seven more churches could be on the verge of death.

She gave voice to two parties involved in this complicated and sometimes controversial process.

You’ll hear thoughts from one of the diocese officials leading this Road to Renewal plan and a parishioner who said it can be overwhelming to watch it all unfold.

A fourth meeting of seven, as part of the vicariate meetings within the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.

Monday evening’s meeting took place in Ransomville for the family parishes of Niagara and Orléans.

This was another 90-minute meeting limited to clergy and church administrators.

Parishioner Albert Hornung said: “It’s quite disheartening to see the churches closed. We feel like we are without a church. We don’t have a church to go to.

Niagara Falls resident Albert Hornung is a parishioner who came to the meeting but did not realize it was not open to parishioners.

After being turned away, Kassahun was able to express his concerns to him.

Hornung said, “We’re looking at 2 or 3 different churches. You feel like you’ve always wanted to get up and go to church, see your priests, celebrate mass, enjoy the day and now you don’t don’t know which church you want to go to.

Father Bryan shared the concerns he heard at the meeting, with many saying they were worried about church properties, what will happen to their facilities, parishioners, those considered poor and marginalized and their care -eat.

“We used a lot of different metrics. So we used metrics of contributing households, registered households versus number of sacraments celebrated. We looked at the condition of the buildings. We looked at their infrastructure, can they accommodate larger congregations, we looked at their demographics: is the area’s population increasing, is it decreasing, is it older, is it younger? We are starting to look at how close parishes are to each other? compared to others to drive someone to church,” said Father Bryan Zielenieski, vicar of renewal development for the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.

He added that it is imperative to reduce its size, so that the diocese can better manage and focus on its mission.

“We are so focused on infrastructure, maintenance and facilities that we often sacrifice the mission of who we are as the Catholic Church. This is a generic statement. It is certainly not specific to all of our communities , but we need to make sure that we “evangelize, reach out, let people know why the Church is still relevant today, help bring them the services they need and the outreach opportunities that are available ” said Father Bryan.

Father Bryan emphasized that Catholic schools will remain open throughout the diocese for the 2024-2025 school year.

Here are the recommendations for Vicariate of Niagara/Orléans:

Family #10

• St. John the Baptist, Lockport
• All Saints, Lockport – merge with St. John – close St. Joseph campus
• Immaculée Conception, Ransomville – moving into family #34
• St. Patrick, Barker – move into family #10
• St. Brendan on the Lake, Newfane
• Place of worship of Our Lady of the Rosary, Wilson

Family #11

• St. Stephen, Middleport – merge with St. Mary’s, Medina
• St. Mark, Kendall – merge with St. Mary’s, Holley
• Sainte-Marie, Holley
• Holy Family, Albion
• Holy Trinity, Medina

Family #34

• St. Raphael, Niagara Falls – merge with St. Peter, Lewiston
• St. Peter, Lewiston
• Accept the Immaculate Conception, Ransomville, into the family #34

Family #35

• Divine Mercy, Niagara Falls – merge with Sainte-Marie de la Cataracte
• St. John de LaSalle, Niagara Falls – merge with St. Vincent de Paul
• St. Vincent de Paul, Niagara Falls
• Saint Mary of the Cataract, Niagara Falls
• Holy Family of Jesus Mary and Joseph, Niagara Falls – Closure of the Notre-Dame du Mont-Carmel site

On Thursday, June 6, a vicariate meeting was held for the city of Buffalo.
On Friday, June 7, a vicariate meeting was held for North Erie.