BUFFALO, N.Y. — Editor’s note: This is Part 1 of an ongoing 2 On Your Side series, “Faith & Fallout,” which examines multiple issues facing the Diocese of Buffalo, including the sexual abuse of children, bankruptcy, church closings and how the diocese spends donations by parishioners.
When the Diocese of Buffalo announced in May that it would close or merge 80 Catholic parishes, Bishop Michael Fisher said it came down to numbers.
“We are not the church we were 40 years ago, 20 years ago, 10 years ago, let alone 5 years ago,” Fisher said at a news conference announcing the closures.
Fisher appointed Fr. Bryan Zielenieski as the diocese’s new vicar for renewal and development, where Zielenieski has been the public face of the “Road to Renewal” plan for consolidation.
Zielenieski has said in interviews and in YouTube videos posted by the diocese that the process is “very clear and transparent.”
“Nothing here is secret,” he said.
But a 2 On Your Side investigation found that transparency with the diocese only goes so far. Earlier this month, the diocese refused to name the parishes fighting closure. It only disclosed the names of churches not fighting the closures after church leaders were questioned by 2 On Your Side.
The diocese has also resisted posting key financial data online, to the frustration of some Catholics who are fighting to keep their churches open.
“If you’re going to roll out a list of specific churches, and a lot of them come as a surprise to people, then you need to be up front with those people about why,” said Braden Pritchard, who is on the Holy Name Society at St. Mark Church in North Buffalo, which is slated for closure.
Pritchard said the diocese hasn’t released enough of the raw data being used by the diocese to justify the closures. He said that has caused confusion and anger among parishioners.
“And you’re making them upset along the way by being, frankly, shady about a lot of this data,” he said. “Do you really think they’re going to consolidate into another church? You really think they’re going to stay and participate in the diocese, especially after all the things that have been going on?”
On its Road to Renewal website, the diocese has posted some data in spreadsheet form that show a steep decline in practicing Catholics. Average weekend attendance in the diocese a decade ago was 130,125 people, according to diocesan figures. It is now at 57,369.
There is a brief snippet of financial data — such as average contributions and the net operating balance of parishes — shown behind Zielenieski in this YouTube video posted by the diocese.
But that information has not been posted online, which frustrates parents at St. Benedict in Amherst. They say their church is too financially sound to shut down.
“The data and the reasoning we’re being fed, they just don’t align,” said Nandor Forgach, a parent of two children enrolled at St. Benedict.
St. Benedict was one of multiple schools the diocese plans to keep open — even as it closes the church. Laura Smith, a mother of two, said the church was a big reason her family chose the school.
“It was clear that there was that great chemistry there, as Catholics and people who attend church and want that for our children, too,” Smith said. “I don’t think our school would thrive without a parish and I don’t think the parish would thrive without the school.”
In an interview with 2 On Your Side, Zielenieski said all data used by the diocese originally came from the parishes.
“So anything that we used in our recommendations was submitted by the parish in their annual reports, both financially and sacramentally,” Zielenieski said.
Zielenieski said the diocese gave a binder of financial data to all pastors and it is up to the pastors to distribute. He said parishioners need to go through the priests so that church leaders are aware of who is seeking the information.
“We told all the pastors they are free to release all of that information however they see fit,” Zielenieski said. “And since we are in Chapter 11 [bankruptcy] reorganization, we do have to be prudent about how we share our financial information.”
2 On Your Side Investigative Reporter Charlie Specht asked, “Why not just put it all online? Put the data online like you have for the births, the deaths, the baptisms, how many people are going to Mass. You put that information online. Bankruptcy, it would seem, would require you to be more transparent with finances. Why not just put the rest of that online?”
Zielenieski said, “Again, I believe we are being transparent because we’re trying to make sure that the leadership of all the parishes have everything that they need. They’ve been given that. They can do whatever they want with that information.”
Zielenieski said the church wants to prevent certain people from using the data to submit their own “counter-proposals” to the planned closures without the knowledge of pastors.
“We’re trying to prevent rogue people that are trying to do things on the side coming up with counter-proposals that our pastors and our leadership teams are unaware of,” he said.
Parents at St. Benedict say it’s that top-down leadership model that’s responsible for driving people away from the Catholic Church.
“They’re expecting this to be like what our parents’ generation was,” Forgach said. “That was like, ‘Well, the diocese said it so it must be the truth,’ and I’m sorry, we’re not going to roll down and take it. We’re going to fight for our parish because they say a church is more than a building? Well, a church is nothing without the people in that building, and you have to remember that, as well.”
Part 2 of this series, which will focus on how the diocese has been spending Catholics’ money during bankruptcy proceedings, will air on 2 On Your Side at 6 p.m. on Aug. 7.
Have a tip for the 2 On Your Side Investigates team? Contact Charlie Specht at Charlie.Specht@wgrz.com or Sean Mickey at Sean.Mickey@wgrz.com. All tips are confidential.