buffaloah.com
CV NEWS FEED // The diocese of Buffalo, New York has announced that it will sell its headquarters building, the Catholic Center, for $9.8 million, several years after announcing the diocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
The diocese announced on March 11 that the Catholic Center is for sale, and highlighted information about the buildings’ history, architecture, and renovations.
The diocese first purchased the buildings in 1985, which was previously used as a printing-press location for the now-closed Courier-Express. The buildings were renovated shortly after its purchase in 1985.
Located on 795 Main St., the building is approximately 95,000 square feet. The sale also includes a “two-block collection of properties,” according to the press release, including “an additional two-story building at 801 Main Street, and an adjacent garage structure on Main and Burton Streets. Three adjoining parking lots on both the east and west side of Main Street also are included in the listing.”
In 2019, when New York passed the Child Victims Act, hundreds of abuse cases were brought against the Diocese of Buffalo. The Diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in 2020.
In 2020, NY Attorney General Letitia James sued the diocese on the allegation that the diocese “persistently failed to address the child sexual abuse crisis and systematically,” according to a press release.
In 2022, the diocese announced that it agreed to settle the lawsuit with AG James but other lawsuits remain ongoing. The diocese has also since placed several priests on administrative leave while investigations into abuse allegations continue.
In October 2023, the diocese announced in court papers that it would offer at least $100 million to settle hundreds of child sex abuse lawsuits. The diocese has also filed a motion to block plaintiffs from pursuing civil claims against non-bankrupt parishes and other Catholic entities. The victims rejected the deal, and the judge has postponed the hearings.
Bishop Michael W. Fisher of Buffalo stated in the 2022 settlement announcement:
The settlement that the diocese and the New York attorney general have agreed to confirms that the rigorous policies and protocols the diocese has put in place over the past several years are the right ones to ensure that all young people and other vulnerable persons are safe and never at risk of abuse of any kind by a member of the clergy, diocesan employee, volunteer, or member of a religious order serving in the Diocese of Buffalo.
He continued, “At the same time, we have strengthened our Safe Environment policies with the Priest Supervision Program which I implemented in June of last year to account for priests removed from active ministry, and with the additional appointment of a new Child Protection Policy Coordinator.”
“We hope that these initiatives,” the bishop concluded, “along with our commitment to producing an additional detailed annual compliance audit by an independent auditor, will provide further evidence of our commitment to the level of accountability and transparency that all Catholic faithful and the broader public rightly deserve and require.”
