BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — Another Catholic church within the Diocese of Buffalo is fighting to stay open. The diocese has given the church a notification to get finances in order.
St. Casimir the city's Kaisertown neighborhood is the only ‘free-standing’ church in the diocese and does not operate as a parish.
But dedicated volunteers are now trying to raise the needed funds to keep the historic doors open.
“It's up to the diocese to determine whether or not they're going to keep us open. It is not up to us,” Linda Smith explained. “They could close us tomorrow because we still have debt. But they have given us this timeline which is a good thing for us because we do have a plan and we're just trying to put all the pieces together to present it to the diocese.
St. Casimir on Cable Street in Buffalo is a historic landmark that opened in 1929, but like other Catholic churches, it is facing declining attendance and mounting debt.
The bankrupt diocese has given a deadline of August for the church to pay overdue insurance costs.
“The problem is that we have a large debt for the building insurance. the diocese has said that by August, the end of August we have to make a $55,000 payment to that debt, but it won't clear up the debt,” Smith replied.
Long-time church volunteer Linda Smith tells me this will give them more time to present a future financial plan.
But the diocese sent me a fact sheet saying in part the church has experienced a deficit in six of the last 12 years and attendance is down to roughly 52 people a week.
Right now, a GoFundMehas raised more than $24,000.
“The most beautiful ones you see people who maybe only do five because they want to do something to help anything,” Cecilia Pascucci remarked.
Church volunteer Cecilia Pascucci created the GoFundMe telling me the donations bring tears to her eyes.
"I have literally been sitting, messaging back crying," Reflected Pascucci. "Putting it out there the spreading the words little ever doesn't come into the gulf GoFundMe I’m getting messages. ‘Hey, can I just drop off a check? Can I come visit? Can I do this — that it's getting the awareness out of what this church is about."
As a free-standing church, St. Casimir does not have regular parishioners and only one Sunday Mass.
“But when we have a worship event, we can get 100 people. You know, that's where we try and get some of our donations to support us,” remarked Smith.
This church also has a historic past to Pope John Paul II. In 1976, when he was Cardinal, he came here not only to say Mass, but he spent two nights in this rectory.
“I mean how many of the churches can say they had a saint in their church here in Buffalo,” Smith responded. “We have the upper room where he stayed and slept. And we open that up and we call it the prayer room, the St. John Paul II prayer and we open that up for anyone who would like to go up there and what you can see where he slept and what people can do is write down intentions on post-it notes and they posted on the wall.”
The St. Casimir volunteers tell me they are hoping the diocese doesn't shut them down.
“Stop putting the blame on the people. the people have been pushed away,” described Pascucci. “Honestly -- they need to open their eyes.”
“I think every catholic in the diocese is frustrated. I really do,” Smith noted. “Because we try so hard and then too and I think every parish was shocked to learn that all of a sudden they need to provide all kinds of money, and some churches can do it more easily than others, so I think everyone in the diocese is concerned.”
St. Casimir was a man who served the poor, and now these volunteers tell me ironically, they are trying to get themselves out of an impoverished time.
“It is ironic. It is ironic, but we're faithful people and we're praying really hard. And I truly believe that we're going to be able to pull ourselves out here,” Smith declared.
