"
Posted on 02/21/2011 5:39:21 AM PST by Gamecock
Kaisertown in Buffalo is a community with deep roots and plenty of history. But it may be losing two of its oldest Catholic churches in the near future. The Diocese of Buffalo, citing dropping attendance, a shortage of priests, and financial concerns, is now taking steps to merge three local parishes.
Under a proposal from the diocese, Saint Bernard's parish in Buffalo will close its doors for good. Sunday morning, parishioners reacted to the news.
"I sort of knew it was coming, but I didn't want it to happen. We've been parishioners here for 40 years. I love the church," Matilda Weigand said.
Paul Pacer had his first communion, confirmation, and was married at St. Bernard's. "It's just sad to see a lifelong church, a staple in the community, being closed," he said.
Under the Diocesan proposal, Saint Casimir's, also in Buffalo, would become an oratory. It would be open for one weekly mass and for special occasions only.
Mary Anne Gardon and her family have more than 100 years of history at St. Casimir's. She described hearing the news of the church's merger. "It was just devastating. I couldn't even think about it anymore. When they said about it closing, I would almost get physically ill," she said.
The merged parishes will now become one, as they all join Our Lady of Czestochowa parish in Cheektowaga. Parishioners there said they are ready to open their doors to those from the other two churches.
Dan Lowicki, a parishioner at Our Lady of Czestochowa, said "I really truly hope that we can come together as one family under God." Another parishioner, Laura McCann said, "I wish them the best and we're ready to welcome them. We have to remember that we are Christians and worship together and be together, and hopefully everything will prosper and be very good in the future."
The merger of the three parishes is expected to take place in late spring or early summer.
But I thought the Roman Catholic Church membership was growing!?!
This more of Buffalo shrinking than the Church.
Half of Buffalo has already moved to North Carolina anyway.
The new members wouldn’t exactly be flocking to Buffalo, for economic & climate reasons. Even with the growth of the Latino & Philippino population in NJ, there will be more consolidations like this because the number of available priests to serve separate parishes is dropping, the building are getting older and more expensive to maintain, and there is no reason to build new churches as Americans attend less and less.
Buffalo’s influx of Eastern European Roman Catholic Immigres stopped long ago gamecock, and Buffalo herself is contracting and has been for yrs, so much so my Grandparents RCC Church shuttered well over 20 yrs ago.
A pity really, as they are beautiful Churches.
| Census | Population | %+/- |
| 1950 | 580,132 | 0.7% |
| 1960 | 532,759 | -8.2% |
| 1970 | 462,768 | -13.1% |
| 1980 | 357,870 | -22.7% |
| 1990 | 328,123 | -8.3% |
| 2000 | 270,240 | -7.7% |
| Estimated 2009 | 270,240 | -7.7% |
All the Catholic snowbirds are heading to Gamecock country.
You’re in New York, you know what’s going on the Northeastern cities. Those beautiful churches in the cities were built from the pennies of immigrants—first Germans and Irish, then Italian, Polish, etc. They rose up right in the middle of strong ethnic neighborhoods.
Then everybody in these ethnic communities started moving out to the burbs. Lots of these churches found themselves without a parish anymore.
So what you’re seeing with closings in Northeastern cities is a local phenomenon that’s not reflected in the national numbers. I believe the Church grew nationally in 2010.
| 2009 membership | 2010 membership | Lost | Gained | |
| PCUSA | 2,934,952 | 2,844,952 | 90,000 | |
| PCA | 2,934,952 | 340,000 | 5,500 | |
| Disappearing Presbyerians | 84,500 |
And Buffalo is a Catholic stronghold. There are several ethnic groups which have been historically very loyal to the Catholic church.
This is interesting.
Many of the Protestant/Evangelical churches in the Buffalo area are chock full of ex-Catholics. Those who have seen the truth of Scripture and the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and have hence left the Catholic church.
Buffalo has a large Hispanic population. The whole West side is essentially Hispanic.
Not to mention Polish, Italian, and Ukrainain in other parts of the city.
All large, very strongly Catholic populations.
If Catholicism is dying in WNY, it does not bode well for Catholicism the rest of the nation.
This is the Diocese that is my area.. RC churches have been closing and merging now for about 5 years.. This is just one more merger.
This area is probably one of the most solid Rc areas in the country.. self identifying RCs being 85 to 90% .
We have a heavy Irish, Italian. Polish population. There USED to be a Catholic Church and a bar on every corner ..now it is only the bars that are doing business.
Recently there was an article posted that showed that only 15% of those that identify as Rc actually are “practicing “.
My area seems to give those numbers credibility.. baptism, first communion, marriage, and funerals.. and maybe Christmas and Easter are the times most of these folks see the inside of their parishes
Also some attend a protestant church on Sundays and never withdrew their membership from Rome..
What always strikes me about this process is that people that never go to church love their PHYSICAL church building and do not want it closed.. and will make a lot of noise over it.
East side kid right here..:D
The old neighborhood featured shuttered businesses and empty homes, did attend my Grandmother’s funeral at the local RCC but they opened it for that occasion...and even then, though she lived their for well over 30yrs, it was a tiny service.
Yes and no
The City center has a shrinking population ...but the suburbs are still pretty stable.. They are merging suburban church and country churches as well..
The question that was not answered in the article is whether or not parishes in other areas are growing.
By the way...My Catholic alma mater in Philadelphia closed a few years ago. The area is losing population. There are many abandoned houses, and there simply are not enough students ( Catholic or non-Catholic) to justify keeping the school open.
Duh. I forgot the Irish population. I knew there was one I was missing.
Ever been to the Broadway market the day before Easter?
Things will always bode well for Catholicism because the Church was founded by Jesus Himself on the rock, Peter.
Throughout history, numbers have waxed and waned during various crises, persecutions and apostasies, as they will until the end of time.
Anyone scrutinizing numbers in Buffalo, Biloxi or Timbuktu and trying to extrapolate so as to draw conclusions on the likely future of Catholicism, is wasting their time.
There's actually a certain school of thought which says that the Church may need to shrink! How's about that!! See below.
Benedict XVI and the Church Which May Shrink. Or Not
Excerpt: At another point, in an interview published in 1997 in "Salt of the Earth" (Ignatius Press), he explained it this way: "Maybe we are facing a new and different kind of epoch in the church's history, where Christianity will again be characterized more by the mustard seed, where it will exist in small, seemingly insignificant groups that nonetheless live an intense struggle against evil and bring good into the world - that let God in."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.