BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo recommended closing and merging 15 parishes in Buffalo and Cheektowaga as part of its "Rightsize and Reshaping" plan to deal with financial issues.
This is just the first round of recommended closures, and now we're hearing from the priest in charge of the Family of Parishes in North Buffalo, Riverside, and Black Rock about how this will impact people.
"Even the parishes that are not closing are having the anxiety and things for what this means for them," Father Joseph Tokasz said.
2 On Your Side talked with Father Tokasz on Friday afternoon about what the recommended closure would mean for St. Mark in Parkside. Under the plan revealed last night, St. Mark Parish would close and merge with St. Margaret on Hertel. The school would stay open. Around 400 pre-K through 8th graders go there.
There would be an adaptive re-use of the church and rectory for school purposes and those buildings would not be sold.
"The church will not function, it wouldn't have your normal Sunday masses per se, but we can use it for school masses still. We can use it as an oratory, a chapel, potentially, we're examining all of the ideas with that," Father Tokasz.
He says the rectory could be used for classrooms, library space, or offices.
The restructuring plan calls for at least two parishes in this family of churches in addition to All Saints which was already closing this summer, to close. Right now, it's recommended that only Assumption and St. Margaret in Family 20 stay open.
Father Tokasz has this to say to people who might be frustrated with this announcement.
"There is a lot of strain, a lot of more than tension, you know, brokenness in the relationship in the trust with everything that's been going on. The words that I would say to them is we cannot let the terrible, horrible actions of people in the past ruin and keep ourselves from living the faith," Father Tokasz said.
There's a meeting Friday at 6:30 p.m. at St. Leo the Great to talk about how this plan impacts parishes in the Northtowns.