Posted on 01/22/2007 10:28:50 AM PST by NYer
The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo will close 14 elementary schools in June - its most dramatic and controversial effort to staunch enrollment declines and ensure the long-term viability of Catholic education in Western New York.
Bishop Edward U. Kmiec is expected to announce the closings this morning at a news conference in the Catholic Center.
The closures were spread among four municipalities in Erie County, as well as Dunkirk and Attica.
They are: St. Agnes, St. Bernard and St. Rose of Lima in Buffalo; Kolbe Catholic School, Resurrection, St. Barnabas, St. Josaphat, Infant of Prague and St. Aloysius Gonzaga in Cheektowaga; St. Edmund and Blessed Sacrament in the Town of Tonawanda; Most Precious Blood in Angola; St. Hyacinth in Dunkirk and Genesee-Wyoming Catholic Central in Attica.
Parents of children in most of the schools received letters from Kmiec explaining the need for the closures.
The letters arrived by mail on Friday, although some parents were informed earlier, either by school officials or from letters sent home with children.
Word of the closures was met with shock, and in some cases, outrage by parents and parishioners.
"It was an inside job. It was a setup. There was no input solicited from the parish," said Craig Speers, vice president of the parish council of St. Rose of Lima Church. "I'm just disgruntled by the whole thing. The whole process is completely skewed."
Diocesan officials declined comment on the closings until today.
Francine Young read the disappointing news as soon as the mail arrived at her City of Tonawanda home Friday afternoon.
Young has a son and daughter enrolled at St. Edmund School in the Town of Tonawanda.
"The school is the most amazing, well kept secret in the country," she said. "I can't explain it. You have to experience it to know it."
Young choked back tears as she read the letter from Kmiec.
"We're brokenhearted," she said. "I don't know what we could have done [to save the school]. But I know this: We were a perfectly viable school."
In his letter, Kmiec explained that schools struggled to meet "most or all" of the diocese's criteria for viability.
The diocese made its decisions based upon "extensive research and planning," the bishop also wrote.
In some cases, he acknowledged, the decision was not the choice of the principal and pastor at the school.
Hardest hit were the East Side and Cheektowaga, former strongholds of Catholicism that will lose eight schools.
Becky Kurdziel, who has a fourth-grader and a first-grader at St. Bernard, held out hope that a proposal to consolidate St. Bernard, St. Agnes and St. Josaphat would get traction and be housed at the St. Bernard site, under a new name, Pope John Paul II School.
Instead, none of the schools will survive.
"My son balled his eyes out yesterday," said Kurdziel. "We were hoping for the best, prepared for the worst."
Although some parents were surprised by the letters, the diocese warned the schools more than two years ago that they needed to boost enrollments and shore up their finances. Most were on an "at risk" list for the past three years.
All of the 14 schools have current enrollments of fewer than 170 pupils, and several of them have fewer than 100 pupils.
Catholic school closings have become a regular annual announcement in recent years, but this year's cuts are the most drastic.
Catholic elementary schools lost a quarter of their enrollment between 1996 and 2006 - a trend that led to closing a dozen schools during that span.
The outlook for future enrollment isn't bright, either. Infant baptisms in the diocese declined 10 percent between 2005 and 2006, diocesan officials have noted.
They also pointed out that some parishes are using as much as 80 percent of their Sunday collections to support schools, to the detriment of other ministries.
In addition, the diocese has extended to schools and parishes more than $2 million in emergency aid over the past two years to cover salaries and other expenses - assistance that has contributed to the diocese's current deficit budget of $2.1 million.
Very sad.
Maybe we could import some Mexicans from Montgomery County, Maryland, to Buffalo, and save the day?
That area had a large Polish-American population not that long ago and since the economy in this part of New York has been in a downward spiral many of the younger folks have moved out of the area. Many move east and south within days of college graduation.
But then, Hillary Clinton had promised in her first Senatorial campaign she would fix the horrible economy in that area and most of these people believed and elected her. Twice.
Young folks have been jumping ship from NY's poor economy and high cost of living for a while now...
Buffalo, it seems, is no different from my diocese (Albany) or the other NY dioceses, especially Rochester and Rockville Centre. Faced with growing expenses, they close churches and schools.
I know I'll probably burn in hell for saying this, but the Catholic church should be organized as follows: Rome, and the individual churches. That's it.
Rather than travel down that road, there are other options. Many Catholics are not aware that the Church is both Western and Eastern. The Patriarchs and Bishops seen in this picture come from some of the 22 different Catholic Traditions, including Byzantine, Armenian, Coptic, Chaldean, Melkite, Maronite, Ukrainian, and Ruthenian. A Roman Catholic may attend Mass at any of the Eastern Catholic Churches and fulfill their Sunday obligation.
Although it is not widely known in our Western world, the Catholic Church is actually a communion of Churches. According to the Constitution on the Church of the Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium, the Catholic Church is understood to be "a corporate body of Churches," united with the Pope of Rome, who serves as the guardian of unity (LG, no. 23). At present there are 22 Churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The new Code of Canon Law, promulgated by Pope John Paul II, uses the phrase "autonomous ritual Churches" to describe these various Churches (canon 112). Each Church has its own hierarchy, spirituality, and theological perspective. Because of the particularities of history, there is only one Western Catholic Church, while there are 22 Eastern Catholic Churches. The Western Church, known officially as the Latin Church, is the largest of the Catholic Churches. It is immediately subject to the Roman Pontiff as Patriarch of the West. The Eastern Catholic Churches are each led by a Patriarch, Major Archbishop, or Metropolitan, who governs their Church together with a synod of bishops. Through the Congregation for Oriental Churches, the Roman Pontiff works to assure the health and well-being of the Eastern Catholic Churches.
While this diversity within the one Catholic Church can appear confusing at first, it in no way compromises the Church's unity. In a certain sense, it is a reflection of the mystery of the Trinity. Just as God is three Persons, yet one God, so the Church is 22 Churches, yet one Church.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes this nicely:
"From the beginning, this one Church has been marked by a great diversity which comes from both the variety of God's gifts and the diversity of those who receive them... Holding a rightful place in the communion of the Church there are also particular Churches that retain their own traditions. The great richness of such diversity is not opposed to the Church's unity" (CCC no. 814).
Although there are 22 Churches, there are only eight "Rites" that are used among them. A Rite is a "liturgical, theological, spiritual and disciplinary patrimony," (Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 28). "Rite" best refers to the liturgical and disciplinary traditions used in celebrating the sacraments. Many Eastern Catholic Churches use the same Rite, although they are distinct autonomous Churches. For example, the Ukrainian Catholic Church and the Melkite Catholic Church are distinct Churches with their own hierarchies. Yet they both use the Byzantine Rite.
To learn more about the "two lungs" of the Catholic Church, visit this link:
The Vatican II Council declared that "all should realize it is of supreme importance to understand, venerate, preserve, and foster the exceedingly rich liturgical and spiritual heritage of the Eastern churches, in order faithfully to preserve the fullness of Christian tradition" (Unitatis Redintegrato, 15).
To locate an Eastern Catholic Church in your community, follow the following link:
Eastern Catholic Churches in the U.S.
A Roman rite Catholic may attend any Eastern Catholic Liturgy and fulfill his or her obligations at any Eastern Catholic Parish. A Roman rite Catholic may join any Eastern Catholic Parish and receive any sacrament from an Eastern Catholic priest, since all belong to the Catholic Church as a whole. I am a Roman Catholic practicing my faith at a Maronite Catholic Church. Like the Chaldeans, the Maronites retain Aramaic for the Consecration. It is as close as one comes to being at the Last Supper.
Are you anywhere near Williamsville? If so, check out St. John Maron , Maronite Catholic Church. Please freepmail me if you would like more information on the Eastern Catholic Churches.
that's what happens when the church does not educate themselves and the faithful with voter guides and the issue of school vouchers, tuition tax credits and school choice. Your wonderful liberals and democrats in office don't care about catholic schools, they care about getting the teacher union endorsements to get reelected. And when the schools close there is more state aid for the public schools, they love it when catholic schools close, more teachers and more money going to the unions, which means more clout, more jobs, more power.
the bishops seem to be more concerned with immigration, so be it. Do they really think these immigrants will pay to send their children to catholic schools? pay for medical and hospital care? actually attend mass on a regular basis and actually put money in the collection basket, and register to be permanent parishioners? Volunteer to work for the church? We know the answer is NO.
Sad to see this.
There are probably more, but these closings are being released in dribs and drabs. I can't seem to find a consolidated source for an overall view.
This...while Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of San Antonio have waiting lists, rapidly expanding campuses and multiple classes at each grade level...
Meant to say "churches & schools" are being closed.
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