CV NEWS FEED// An upstate New York diocese has announced its final, drastic list of church closures and mergers, giving families until August 5th to propose alternatives.
The Diocese of Buffalo’s officials will meet with parish representatives between August 12-22 to discuss the final plans, The Observer reports.
Most of the regions in the diocese will consolidate two or three parishes into one, closing the other parishes. The diocese will sell some of the closed parish properties.
One region in the diocese, the Dunkirk-Fredonia region, will go from six parishes to one, closing five parishes and merging their congregations with the one remaining parish.
The diocesan website explains that the diocese, which currently has 160 parishes, recommends that 71 of the parishes merge and close. The diocese also recommends that half of the 36 worship sites close.
The diocese initially announced its plans for merger in June. On May 28, Bishop Michael W. Fisher of Buffalo articulated the need for the mergers and closures.
“The Diocese of Buffalo is facing multiple challenges including a significant priest shortage, declining Mass attendance, aging congregations, and ongoing financial pressures brought about by our Chapter 11 filing.”
The diocese faces significant decreases in family size and sacraments, with 60% of their parishioners over the age of 60. There has been a 52% decrease in baptisms and 24% decrease in marriages.
The bishop added, “This plan resulted from the lessons learned as we brought parishes together in the parish family model and determined rather quickly that scaling back the number of parishes would best allow us to use our limited resources to help reenergize a spiritual renewal in the diocese.”
