Allegany Vicariate parishes will be realigned

The Diocese of Buffalo said today that a number of parishes in the Allegany Vicariate will be restructured as part of the "Journey in Faith and Grace," a parish-based strategic planning and spiritual revitalization initiative launched in June 2005 by Bishop Edward U. Kmiec, bishop of Buffalo. These changes represent the second in a series of recommendations to reimagine parish life throughout the eight-counties of Western New York in response to changing times and emerging needs.

Announcement of the mergers and changes were delivered to affected parishioners at weekend Masses Apr. 28, 29.

"I am grateful to all the people in Allegany County and throughout the diocese who have been involved in planning for the future of our parishes; they certainly seem to have a good sense of what Church is and what it can become," said Bishop Kmiec. "They know it is hard, but this is for the good of all Catholics. I hope people are getting a sense of comfort with the Journey and that it will work to the benefit of everyone. As evidenced by the work of the Allegany Vicariate, there is no ‘cookie-cutter’ approach to the restructuring. We are clearly being responsive to the unique geographic characteristics of this rural county in an effort to ensure a significant number of worship sites remain open. "

Bishop Kmiec said this effort is about not only the blending of faith communities, but also a spiritual coming together. "As parishes merge, people will bring a wonderful spirit of their faith to new communities. It doesn’t matter where you go to church, what matters is how you go to church," Bishop Kmiec said.

Sister Regina Murphy, SSMN, diocesan director of research and planning, said the second round of changes were approved by the Diocesan Strategic Planning Commission and the Diocesan Council of Priests prior to being forwarded to Bishop Kmiec for his final approval.

In the Allegany Vicariate, two parishes will provide sacramental ministry to two neighboring parishes (all four will continue as independent parishes with two of them administered by pastoral administrators); two missions will merge into an existing parish; two parishes will link with two others (with one of the parish’s two churches becoming an oratory); one parish will become an oratory; two oratories will close; one parish will merge with the existing site to close; and one parish will remain independent pending a re-evaluation in three to five years.

Following is the complete parish restructuring plan in the Allegany Vicariate:

• SS. Brendan & Jude (Alfred-Almond) will link with Blessed Sacrament Parish (Andover). St. Brendan Church (Almond) will become an oratory for daily Mass. Weekend services will be held only in Alfred and Andover.

Linked parishes are two parishes, and in rare cases three parishes, which share the same pastor. The parishes remain separately incorporated and are separate communities of faith.

• Immaculate Conception Parish (Wellsville) will continue as an independent parish but will provide sacramental ministry to St. Mary Parish (Bolivar) which will have a pastoral administrator. St. Mary will also remain an independent parish.

A pastoral administrator is a lay person, a vowed religious or a deacon who will participate in the pastoral care of a parish entrusted to him or her, and whose provision of pastoral care is supervised by a priest moderator.

• Sacred Heart Mission (Angelica) and St. Joseph Mission (Scio), both of which are the current missions of St. Mary Parish (Belmont), will no longer have weekend services and their congregations will merge with St. Mary to form a new parish with a new name: Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. St. Joseph will become an oratory. The disposition of the building and property in Angelica will be decided by the new parish.

A merged parish occurs when two or more parish congregations join together to become a single parish congregation.

A mission is a church serving a community of people who are under the care and administration of a particular parish. Ordinarily, missions do not have a large enough congregation or sufficient resources to support full parish life. Missions are often founded in the hope that they will develop into full parishes, and they are often reevaluated if that does not happen.

An oratory is a sacred place that exists for the convenience of some community or group of the faithful. An oratory does not have regularly scheduled liturgical services, and the liturgical functions that can be celebrated there are determined by the local bishop. A neighboring parish is usually responsible for an oratory.

• Our Lady of the Angels (Cuba) will remain an independent parish providing sacramental ministry to Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Parish (Belmont). The Belmont Parish also will remain an independent parish that will be administered by a pastoral administrator.

• St. Mark Parish (Rushford), upon the retirement of the pastor, will become an oratory to serve the summer communities of Rushford and Rushford Lake. The oratory will become the responsibility of St. Philomena Parish (Franklinville), which is in the Southern Cattaraugus Vicariate.

• St. Patrick Parish (Fillmore) will link with St. Patrick Parish (Belfast) with the pastor residing in Fillmore. This was the previous situation from 1999-2006.

• The congregation of Assumption Parish (Portageville) will merge with St. Mary Parish (Silver Springs), which is in the Wyoming Vicariate, and the Portageville site will no longer be used.

• St. Mary Parish (Canaseraga) will, at least temporarily, be an independent parish pending a re-evaluation in three to five years. If growth does not occur in the Canaseraga area, or if the diocese cannot afford to send a priest to such a small parish, the parish could be closed in the future. If that were to happen, the people could be served in Dansville and Hornell and the closing would not require another reconfiguration.

• The oratories of St. John of the Cross (Whitesville) and Sacred Heart (Friendship) will be closed and sold.

All parish recommendations are carefully evaluated in terms of demographic information, Catholic population analysis, sacramental and fiscal data, and pastoral planning. In some cases, reconfiguration decisions include research and planning that predates the Journey.

Affected pastors have been provided with written implementation guidelines to assist them and their parishioners in completing the restructuring, including establishing a timeframe and coordinating other transition-related details.

Additional restructuring recommendations now being reviewed at the diocesan level will be announced as soon as they are finalized.

There are currently 266 parishes, missions and oratories in Western New York and 223 active diocesan priests available for parish service. The diocese anticipates the number of active priests will drop to 150 by the year 2015.

The "Journey in Faith and Grace" is designed to identify the religious, spiritual and education needs of the Catholic faithful throughout the diocese and determine how those needs can best be met. It is an effort to create parish communities that are much more than a place where Sunday liturgy is celebrated. Its goals are to establish faith communities that provide formation programs for the sacraments, religious formation for both children and adults, and outreach to those in need; to provide for greater lay involvement, good pastoral leadership and financial stability; and to ensure that parishes will have the membership, leadership, and resources necessary to be vibrant centers of parish life.