Diocese of Buffalo announces plan to merge parishes by one-third

On May 28, the Diocese of Buffalo announced a plan that would merge approximately 34 percent of the diocese’s 160 parishes. The announcement came after a comprehensive and collaborative planning process directed by the diocese’ Road to Renewal division.

Following a meeting with more than 180 diocesan priests, the diocese shared the next step in the Renewal process publicly. Bishop Michael W. Fisher; Father Bryan Zielenieski, vicar for Renewal and Development; and Father Mark Noonan, pastor of ONE Catholic, presented the plan.

After examining parish demographics, sacramental participation, and financial support, as well as factors such as poverty rates, availability of transportation, proximity and limited resources impact overall parish long-term vitality, the Renewal team made a list of recommended mergers of parishes.  The proposed list takes the diocese from 160 parishes with 196 worship sites to 106 parishes with 121 worship sites, a reduction in 34 percent of parishes and 38 percent of worship sites.

The actual number of parishes merged will not be determined until clergy and parish leadership have an opportunity to review the proposed recommendations. Parish leaders can either agree with the recommendations, or present an option for an alternative parish (or parishes) within their family for merger. Those determinations will be made between Aug. 15 and Sept. 1. Mergers could begin as soon as October.

Bishop Fisher came to Buffalo in 2002 after the Road to Renewal process had begun.

“I see this today, meeting with all of our priests as a historic moment in the life of our diocese,” he said. “I think it’s a time for us certainly not to close our eyes to the challenges ahead of us, but also see the unique opportunities and the hope we can continue to provide as Church even as we are faced with these obstacles and challenges.”

The bishop cited the diocese’s Chapter 11 reorganization, as well as the declining number of baptisms, and engaged parishioners as factors for the merging of parishes.

“Our Catholic footprint is no longer what it used to resemble. We’re not the Church we were 40 years ago, 20 years ago, 10 years ago, let alone five years ago. We are changing. I think that’s the nature of Church anyway,” he said.

He added the diocese has been in a “maintenance model” spending resources on the maintenance of buildings instead of evangelizing to create new growth.

When the Renewal process began, Father Zielenieski said that it was not about closing parishes. He apologized for those remarks.

“We need to acknowledge that circumstances have changed,” he told reporters. “We shouldn’t have said that the way we did when we started the process, because we have to be realistic about our changing climate, culture, changing demographics, changing populations. So, this process that we’re embarking upon right now is going to address some of those situations.”

A slide presentation showed that 49 percent of parishes report a decline in registered households, and 53 percent report a decline in contributing households. A significant 39 percent of parishes have less than half of registered households contributing to the offertory, and 33 percent show a decline in contributions. Fifty-nine percent of parishes report a negative net operating balance trend.

Looking at sacraments, a strong indicator of parish vitality, shows that 52 percent of parishes celebrate an average of less than one baptism per month. The majority of parishes are currently seeing a steady decline in baptisms.  

Father Mark Noonan, who oversees a family of five parishes in Orleans and Niagara counties that has seven worship sites and a total of 35 buildings with three priests caring for those properties, offered some hope as he has seen growth in his parishes mostly through outreach to the Hispanic community.

He explained that thanks to the Renewal pillars structure, the Family of Parishes has been able to tackle many tasks involving liturgy, spiritual life, forming Disciples, inreach/outreach, stewardship, administration, at once.

“I have personally found that that set up is way more effective in moving forward in a lot of different areas at the same time than we were able to prior,” he said, adding it has brought parish leaders together to create a sense of unity.

“We certainly encounter a lot of challenges, but it’s been exciting. There’s been a lot of unifying things that have happened,” he said.

When asked how schools would be affected, Bishop Fisher said a task force is looking into them.

“We also need to look at how we do that in a different way,” he said. “Our classic (model of) schools where they are attached to one parish is not working any longer. We need to have more support, whether it’s financially, whether it’s personnel-wise, as well as enrollment. I think as we look at forming these families and strengthening these families of parishes, how the schools fit into the structure there, as well as how are we delivering education to our people all the way from pre-K to college.”

Following the priests’ meeting, Father Joseph Tokasz gave his thoughts on the presentation. Ordained in 2022, Father Tokasz was appointed administrator of Catholic Community Buffalo North in February.

“I thought it was a very good presentation and informative. I appreciate it,” he said. “I liked the fact that it was based on the data, and they’re looking at that. It’s not just ‘We’re going to try this or that.’ Because we have to do that.”

He pointed out that other dioceses across the country are undergoing similar restructuring.

Msgr. Richard Siepka, moderator of Beloved Disciples of Christ the Lord in Cheektowaga and Depew, said not all the information presented was new to him.  

“There is the realization, no matter how painful things may be, it’s the right thing to do. Something has to be done in some way, some shape and form,” he said.