Diocesan Rightsizing and Reshaping Decision

September 9, 2024

Dear Catholic Community of Buffalo, North,

Bishop Michael Fisher called on the evening of Monday, September 9, 2024, extraordinary vicariate meetings across the diocese. He announced the final decisions for the Family of Parishes adjustments and parish mergers/closures, which are a part of the Rightsizing and Reshaping initiative of the Road to Renewal process in our diocese. Bishop Fisher will announce these final decisions to the public at a 10:00 a.m. press conference on Tuesday, September 10, 2024.

All the decisions for every Family of Parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo were shared at in-person meetings in each vicariate with parish clergy and trustees in attendance. Bishop Fisher was a part of each vicariate meeting with other members of the Road to Renewal team and diocesan Catholic Center staff through video conference.

The final decisions made by Bishop Fisher, after in-depth consultations over the past months and weeks, will move the Diocese of Buffalo to have 32 Families of Parishes with 118 places of worship (79 parishes and 39 secondary worship sites). The Buffalo Vicariate will have 24 places of worship (16 parishes and 8 secondary worship sites).

The Catholic Community of Buffalo, North, will go from six parishes to two parishes and six worship sites to three worships sites. Every single parish will be affected, and experience changes and necessary adjustments going forward.

The final decisions are as follows:

Projected number of active priests for this family of parishes by 2030 = 1

1. St. Margaret Parish will merge with St. Mark Parish and remain a secondary worship site.
2. St. Rose of Lima will merge with St. Mark with the sale of the entire St. Rose of Lima site.
3. Holy Spirit Parish will merge with St. Mark with the sale of the entire Holy Spirit site.
4. All Saints Parish has already merged with Assumption Parish and the property is being sold.

The Catholic Community of Buffalo, North will consist of Assumption Parish and St. Mark Parish with St. Margaret Church being a secondary site of St. Mark Parish. Parishes which will be merged and campuses which will be closed and sold will be All Saints, Holy Spirit, and St. Rose of Lima.

St. Mark School will remain a Catholic Education ministry of St. Mark Parish.

These decisions are to be implemented between October 1, 2024, and June 8, 2025. This does not mean that parishes will be closing right away. Implementation of these decisions will take place in stages over this period. We will discern over the upcoming weeks how to carry out these decisions.

I know that this news will provoke great emotion. As I have said all along, please do not turn away from our Lord during this time. We all need to remain close to Jesus and turn to him for support. We need to truly live the gospel of Jesus Christ during this time and support one another in love during these difficult moments. May our Lady of Consolation and St. Joseph pray for us.

Yours in Christ,