BishopAccountability.org
	Parishioners Deal with Impact of Church Closings By Brian Hayden Buffalo News June 2, 2008 http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/360526.html The telltale signs of area parishes in decline came long before the Diocese of Buffalo's final announcement of mergers and closings. Parishioners at Mother of Divine Grace in Cheektowaga first heard rumors of their church shuttering several years ago. St. Bonaventure and St. William in West Seneca shared a common weekly bulletin for the last two years. And at St. John the Evangelist in South Buffalo, the church pew fixtures that once held worshippers' hats and purses in a more vibrant era now contain "Journey in Faith and Grace" prayer cards that encourage parishioners to be "thankful for the gifts of yesterday" and for strength and courage in the times ahead. Still, as word about the final restructuring plans spread from South Buffalo to Cheektowaga and beyond during the weekend's masses, some parishioners took the mergers, linkings and closings better than others. Once the final plans go into effect, there will be 77 fewer weekend worship sites than there were when the merger process began in 2005. At St. Casimir in Kaisertown, parishioners drew a sigh of relief when finding out their landmark Byzantine- style church would not close, but rather share a common pastor with nearby St. Bernard. Tom Witakowski, the church organist and choir director, said that the massive domed house of worship at Weimar and Casimir streets is the anchor of the community. "It's more than just a Catholic thing. It's a neighborhood issue." he said. Witakowski, who grew up in Kaisertown, called his neighborhood "on the tipping point" and said that the church closing would send it into further decline. Although his church was spared, he said the experience was a wake-up call. "As painful as it has been, it has been a positive experience," Witakowski said. "It shows that we can no longer be complacent in our faith." Other area parishioners are bracing for a larger transition. Bob Habicht and his wife, Marion, were among the first worshippers at St. Catherine of Siena in West Seneca in 1967; it is set to merge into nearby Queen of Heaven. While he admitted that these days they "don't fill every pew," he described his socially active parish as attracting worshippers from as far away as Lockport, Akron and Eden for the intimate worship setting. Habicht said that at Mass parishioners would walk around the room, hugging and kissing one another during the sign of peace. He doesn't plan to attend the much larger Queen of Heaven because "they don't need us." "I'm hanging on in there until the end," Habicht said. Fellow parishioner and formal pastoral associate Sue Buttino said that St. Catherine was ahead of its time when it started homeless and teen ministries. She believes that the merger into the larger Queen of Heaven without a new parish name would chip away at their identity. "We could really surrender all [of our parish] if we felt we had been more honored in the process," Buttino said. But the Rev. Tom Quinlivan at Queen of Heaven parish said that they would do all they could to accommodate St. Catherine parishioners. "We will have a transition team that will look at the mergers, and the gifts and talents of this place," Quinlivan said. At Mother of Divine Grace in Cheektowaga, Monsignor S. Paul Ayoub likened the merger into Infant of Prague to the burden the disciples were left with after Jesus. "This is a big part of the cross we have to carry," Ayoub said. Diane Fenz formerly worshipped at Infant of Prague but started attending Mother of Divine Grace with her mother after her father died. She thought many of the elderly may not be able to make the longer walk to Infant of Prague on Cleveland Drive. "It's OK, but I thought we were going to be here for a while." Fenz said. "I think everybody's really sad, especially the really older people in their 80s. They don't want to start over." News Staff Reporter Andrew Rafferty contributed to this report. Contact: bhayden@buffnews.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.