Anger and sadness during Sunday mass amid news of closures

The church is one of 25 churches in the Diocese of Buffalo and Northtowns scheduled to close by 2025, according to an announcement by the diocese last week. Further final recommendations are expected this week. Blessed Sacrament will merge with St. Paul’s in Kenmore for about a year before that church can also close, according to Gallagher.

“I know there’s hurt and I’m sorry, I wish I could take it away,” Gallagher said during his homily. “And I know there is anger and I wish I could take it out.

“We just have to try to lift our hearts to God as best we can,” he added.

Gallagher’s words were met with “Amens” and tears flowed throughout the congregation, many of whom had been attending church there for several decades.

As many as 75 churches in the Diocese of Western New York could close their doors due to financial difficulties, declining attendance and a shortage of priests. The expected closure of the Blessed Sacrament is part of a national trend of mergers and closures of Catholic churches that accelerated when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020.

The Diocese of Buffalo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 after 900 people filed sexual abuse complaints against it. In the lawsuits, the plaintiffs allege that priests, nuns and other clergy sexually abused them.

Personnel problems are also hitting the diocese hard. There are 115 priests available to fill 160 parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo. By 2030, only 70 priests are expected to be available, compared to 38 priests available in 2040, according to diocese projections.

Additionally, nearly 60% of the diocese’s parishes have experienced negative net operating balances in recent years, with many parishes devoting a large portion of their funds to building maintenance, according to the diocese.

These statistics come as the Catholic diocese reports that fewer baptisms and marriages are taking place.

The loss of beloved Catholic institutions has become commonplace in Western New York, and Tonawanda has not been immune. Blessed Sacrament was one of two Catholic schools in the city to close in 2007 — the other was St. Edmund — and two years later, St. Paul School closed. Earlier this year, parishioners at St. Andrew’s learned their church and school would be closed.

At the Blessed Sacrament on Sunday, some worshipers said a baptism took place after Mass, leading them to wonder where such sacraments would take place if the church was closed.

“There’s nothing wrong with getting angry as long as it’s justified, and I think it’s justified,” one of the church administrators said. “We have done everything possible to keep this parish functioning. »

The administrator declined to be named in the article after being ordered not to speak to the media.

Gallagher told the Buffalo News that the church may try to oppose the diocese’s recommendation to close the Blessed Sacrament. He said the process isn’t entirely clear yet, but could involve submitting a counter-recommendation with information on whether the church is financially stable and whether its attendance is stable or increasing.

It’s something parishioner Jennie Silverman said she can get behind.

“I don’t like the diocese’s recommendation,” she said. “I think we are in a better financial situation than other parishes. So why close us? »