ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Parishioners at St. Bernadette Church in Orchard Park are protesting the Buffalo Diocese's decision to convert their church into a secondary worship site this spring.
Joanne Zabielski has been a parishioner at St. Bernadette Church in Orchard Park for the past 50 years, but on May 1, Joanne told me the diocese will reduce services at the church.
Joanne and many other parishioners I spoke with don’t understand why that decision to become a secondary worship site was ever made.
“Why are we paying for their sins? That’s my first question. It’s their sins, why would you destroy a family of faith?” Joanne said. “It’s just an ongoing faith-filled community that we built.”
“I have never been part of a community that is more loving and spiritual than St. Bernadette,” Angela Colosi said. “Honestly, I wish I could move elsewhere, so that I could be in a diocese that would listen and will respond when we have concerns.”
“We feel very strongly that St. Bernadette is a strong, vibrant parish,” Eugene Hanitz said. “[The Diocese] wants the land it’s plain and simple.”
Feelings so strong that they started a nonprofit organization, called Friends of St. Bernadette, in hopes of keeping their church open. Now, that very non-profit is taking their complaints to the Vatican, sending a letter to Pope Francis.
Buffalo Diocese spokesman Joe Martone told me the diocese respects the parishioners' wishes to appeal to the Vatican. He insisted St. Bernadette is not closing and will remain an active church but with less frequent use compared to 'primary' parishes.
He acknowledged the consolidations happening within the church are the result of a lack of priests, fewer people donating to the diocese, and the ongoing multi-million-dollar settlements of sexual abuse lawsuits.
