CHEEKTOWAGA, NY (WKBW) — Thousands of Catholics across Western New York are just months away from losing their churches as the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo moves forward with plans to close or merge dozens of parishes.
We continue to follow up with parishioners who are appealing the diocese's decision and are hoping to change their church's fate.
St. Aloysius parishioners in Cheektowaga are battling to save their church from shutting down come June. But I learned exclusively from one church member that the diocese might be trying to expedite its closure.
“We're going to do everything we can to make sure that St. Al’s stays open,” said Sarah Rowe, a devoted parishioner St. Aloysius Gonzaga Church on Cleveland Drive in Cheektowaga.
Rowe is helping lead the fight against the diocese's plans to close the church under its Road to Renewal effort. But now, the church's appeal process has hit a major roadblock after receiving a letter from the bishop earlier this week.
“He said, by the way, we have an offer that is very generous for your property, and we are seriously considering moving forward with that very soon, so you need to be aware of that,” explained Mary Purski of Save Our Buffalo Churches.
Purski is part of the massive appeal process.
“They say they have a buyer and they want to move forward as soon as possible – not fair,” replied Purski.
The diocese sent its decree to St. Al’s to merge with Christ the King in Snyder by June 1 – that means St. Al’s would be shut down for good.
Christ the King Church, on Main Street, is part of the Family of Parishes #16. Depending on your route, it's more than six miles from St. Al’s.
Rowe shared a map, showing the diocese could create what she called a “church desert” in the 14215 zip code by closing St. Al’s.
"We're fighting to stay open so the faithful have an accessible place of worship, but we're also fighting so we can stay open to continue to serve our community by way of our vital ministries,” Rowe explained. “There are many faithful in our community, like our elderly, who attend daily Masses that rely on accessible worship. we have a lot of faithful who rely on worship within walking distance or the bus and closing St. Al’s would make transportation for those individuals, very difficult and in some cases, maybe impossible.”
A spokesman for the diocese confirmed to me there is a party with "serious" interest in buying the St. Al’s property, but is not close to a sale right now. He also told me the June 1 date for closure is not "realistic" given the appeal process.
In the meantime, Purski shipped off a huge amount of documents to the Vatican asking to “stop” Road to Renewal with more than 4,000 signatures from the region.
“All the way from Olcott Beach – all the way down to the Pennsylvania line, we have all these people,” described Purski.
For now, Rowe told me she won't give up her fight to keep St. Al’s open because losing it would be “very difficult."
“I have been to other Catholic churches in the country and in the world, and I have never felt more at home than I have at St. Al’s,” said Rowe. “No matter where I’ve been on my faith journey, I have always known that St. Al’s my home.”
