BUFFALO, N.Y. — Parishioners at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the Old First Ward gathered Monday night for an ice cream social, but sights of sweet treats and children playing were somewhat overshadowed by an uncertain future for the community.
The church, which was established over 100 years ago, was one of the 80-plus that the Buffalo Diocese chose to merge as part of its Road to Renewal. As the diocese faces financial hardships, it’s chosen to consolidate its worship places, like OLPH, which is proposed to merge with St. Louis.
“It’ll be a sad day if they do,” said parishioner Bill Conway. “All my kids were baptized here. I got married here, buried a lot of my family here.”
But many of the parishes are refusing to accept their fate without a fight. The diocese has received counter proposals from 30 of the 36 families, including one from OLPH, which was reviewed last week.
This week marks the second week of meetings between the diocese and parish staff to review the proposals. By Thursday, those meetings will conclude, and the diocese will announce final decisions by the first week of September.
“It feels like just whatever church makes them the most money is who they want to side with,” said parishioner Adam McGoldrick.
OLPH posted its counter proposal on Facebook and suggested that the diocese keep it open but put it on a one-year watch list for re-evaluation. If that is not an option, the parish provided an alternative of keeping it open as a worship site that has weekend mass and is run by retired priests.
The parish also opened its sanctuary last Monday for two hours and asked parishioners to come to pray that the alternative would be accepted.
Their proposal did not identify another church that should close in their place. Instead, they focused on the role they play in their community, which the parishioners echoed Monday evening.
Many said that they wouldn’t go to St. Louis if the churches merged and would instead grow distant from the Catholic community. Others were concerned about the elderly or people who needed to walk to a church nearby not having one.
The gravity of the situation isn’t lost on parishioners at OLPH. They’re just hoping the diocese will allow them to have a little more time.
The Buffalo Diocese released a statement to 2 On Your Side about OLPH. Here is the full statement:
“Our Lady of Perpetual Help, one of the smallest parishes in the diocese, has just over 100 registered families. All the facts and data reported to the diocese have been checked and are absolutely correct. The clergy and the trustees of the parish are trying everything they can to keep some presence of the church in the First Ward.
“Both the parish council and the pastor’s counter proposals were presented last Monday and were well received by the Road to Renewal review committee.”