Franciscan group to leave Buffalo parishes in July

Brother Lawrence Hayes, provincial minister of the Atlanta-based Province of the Franciscan Friars of Our Lady of Guadalupe, sent a letter to SS parishioners last week. Columba & Brigid and three other churches say the brothers will leave at the end of July as a necessary step to deal with their dwindling numbers.

The number of brothers in the order has grown from 900 brothers on the East Coast alone in the 1970s to 650 today nationwide.

Among the reassigned priests was the Rev. William “Jud” Weiksnar, who played an active role in the SS neighborhood. Columba and Brigid and could often be seen cycling. Two other priests and a retired brother will also leave, said diocese spokesman Joseph Martone. The diocese is developing a plan to staff parishes after the brothers leave.

The OFM Franciscans, marked by their brown robes, provided from 1946 until approximately 2007 priests and brothers to Bishop Timon-St. Jude High School in South Buffalo. The order will continue to have clergy at St. Bonaventure University, where it has been present since the university’s founding in 1858.