BUFFALO, N.Y. — Most parishes that are slated to be closed by the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo have decided that they are not going down without a fight.
This week’s deadline revealed that 30 of 36 of the diocese’s parish families plan to submit counter-proposals pushing back on the diocese’s recommendations of closing or merging a total of 80 parishes in the region, church officials said Wednesday.
But the diocese wouldn’t say exactly which parishes are pushing back until 2 On Your Side Investigates pressed for answers. Diocesan spokesperson Joe Martone said the diocese wanted to avoid confusion. He referred 2 On Your Side to The Rev. Bryan Zielenieski, the diocese’s vicar of renewal.
Investigative Reporter Charlie Specht asked Father Zielenieski, “Do you see why this doesn't strike people as very transparent, when you're not giving the names and the specifics?”
Father Zielenieski said, “Well, we’re trying to respect that each family is responsible for how they’re releasing their information.”
Father Zielenieski said the process is complicated because some parishes worked together and submitted one counter-proposal for their family or geographic area, while in other places, each individual parish submitted their own competing plan.
“Some of the parish communities … need to be informed,” Father Zielenieski said. “They know that something’s happening, they know that they’ve been having meetings, they know what the recommendations are, but they’re not sure of what the counterproposals look like yet.”
Nandor Forgach, a father of two students at St. Benedict in Eggertsville, sayid he’s frustrated that the diocese hasn’t publicly posted all of the data on which it is basing the church closures. The diocese has posted some attendance and sacramental data on the Road to Renewal website but it has not posted data about parish finances.
“To come to us and say, ‘Well, we’re closing you for X, Y and Z reasons out of the blue,' it’s a real shock and almost a slap in the face, especially considering the fact that communication from the diocese has not been the best over a course of time now,” Forgach said.
Father Zielenieski said Catholics need to know that no final decisions have been made and that detailed counterproposals aren’t due until early August.
Zielenieski agreed to provide the names of the six parish families who are not submitting counter-proposals after he was questioned by 2 On Your Side Investigative Reporter Sean Mickey. The diocese did not recommend church closures for some of those groups.
Those families include: Family #5 (Chautauqua Family of Catholic Churches); Family #19 (Getzville, Pendleton, Williamsville); Family #27 (Eden, Gowanda, Cattaraugus, North Collins); Family #32 (The RC Community of Cheektowaga-Kaisertown-Sloan); Family #34 (Lower Niagara River Catholic Community); and Family #36 (St. Joseph’s University, UB North Newman Center, other campus ministries).