Diocese Announces Closing of 5 Churches: East Eden Parish Will Be an Oratory
By Jay Tokasz, The Buffalo News, N.Y.
Feb. 10–Five more Catholic churches in Erie and Wyoming counties will be shut down and a sixth will be converted into an occasional worship site, under the Diocese of Buffalo’s latest restructuring plans.
The churches slated to close are: Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Brant; St. Patrick in Java Center; St. Nicholas in North Java; St. Stanislaus Kostka in Perry; and St. Joseph in Bliss.
The third-oldest Catholic parish in the diocese is among the parishes also affected by the latest announcements.
St. Mary Church in East Eden, founded in 1835, will be converted into an oratory, meaning it will host only occasional worship services and no longer function as an independent parish.
Pastors announced the changes during Masses on Saturday, and the diocese released a statement from Bishop Edward U. Kmiec asking the Catholic faithful to place their needs, fears, hopes and trust in God’s hands during the Lenten season.
“I hope people will continue to see and accept that we are progressing on a journey that is true and real, deepening and enriching our faith along the way,” Kmiec said in the statement.
The diocese’s downsizing effort, known as “Journey in Faith & Grace” and aimed at better matching a dwindling number of priests to shifting populations of Catholics in Western New York, is now roughly three-quarters complete.
The diocese started the process in 2005 with 275 church sites that offered weekend liturgies. So far, 212 of those sites have been reviewed — with 71 shut down or scheduled to close.
Another 63 churches in South Buffalo and Kaisertown, northern Erie County and eastern Erie County have yet to be acted upon, and diocesan officials said those announcements will be made later this year.
This weekend’s announcements primarily involved small — from as few as 60 registered families to as many as 287 families — and mostly rural congregations with lengthy histories.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Brant, which will merge into St. Anthony Parish in Farnham, celebrated its 100th anniversary two years ago and St. Joseph in Bliss celebrated the same milestone last year. St. Stanislaus was founded in 1910, St. Nicholas in 1890, and St. Patrick in 1838.
St. Mary in Eden was an outgrowth of the Buffalo Diocese’s first parish, St. Louis on Main Street in Buffalo, and eventually spawned other Catholic churches in the Southtowns — all of which ended up outgrowing St. Mary Parish and will stay open.
“The decisions were not that easy to make, but decisions had to be made,” said the Rev. James T. Bartnik. “The small places can’t survive.”
Some St. Mary parishioners took consolation in the fact that the church building will continue as an oratory, and can thus be used for weddings, funerals and other special services.
“We’ve been connected with that church for a long time. It’s sad to see it go,” said Sherry Becker of Hamburg. “I guess it’s kind of comforting to know that they’re not closing it down totally.”
In Wyoming County, some Catholics will have to drive significant distances to get to Masses, once the closings take effect.
Tom Surtel, a trustee of St. Mary Church in Silver Springs, expressed relief that his church will stay open, but he was disappointed that it couldn’t remain an independent parish and keep the same name.
Instead, St. Mary, which already had been part of a merger earlier with Assumption Church in Portageville, will merge again with three other parishes and get a new name and new pastor.
“It’s mixed emotions, like everybody else, but thank God we’re open,” said Surtel. “The area we’re going to cover is going to be so vast. Instead of five churches, you’ve got two.”
Initially, diocesan planners had set aside three priests to cover Wyoming County within the next five to seven years. They added a fourth after further reviewing how difficult it would be for Catholics there to receive the sacraments with so few clergy.
None of the announcements on Saturday came as a shock, but some parishioners vented frustration over the pending closings.
“There’s a lot of hard feelings,” said Joan Reickart, a longtime parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
The diocese cut out Sunday Masses at the church more than a year ago, causing parishioners to scatter to other sites, said Reickart.
The diocese also announced that St. Vincent de Paul Church in North Evans and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Lakeview will begin a collaborative working relationship to prepare them for the possibility of linking or merging in the future and Immaculate Conception in Eden and Holy Spirit in North Collins will “link” and share a pastor.
In Wyoming County, St. Vincent de Paul in Attica and St. Joseph in Varysburg will merge as
one parish and use both church sites.
jtokasz@buffnews.com
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