Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Buffalo Catholic Diocese is calling on all of its parishes to file for bankruptcy, saying it's to address the Diocese's bankruptcy matters.
Mary Pruski of Save Our Buffalo Churches feels it's a confusing development.
"It seemed like the settlement was more or less set up, and now that they see the channeling injunction is gone, they've searched for another solution to try and protect the parishes, but this helps the parishes, I would suppose, that have potential lawsuits against them. The sad part is parishes without lawsuits are being pulled into or told to declare bankruptcy, and I am unsure of what the cons are for that type of a decision," said Pruski with WBEN on Monday.
Pruski wonders what could happen to some of the parishes.
"The Diocese looks for reasons, real or not real, to close a parish, and even if a parish is solvent and has a positive balance, if you declare bankruptcy, even if it's for the very short 48 hours, 72 hours, you never know if they may tag on that, because we lack trust in the diocese leadership, so that's an unknown right now, but it is a possibility," Pruski noted.
This, for Pruski, is a major concern.
"One of the concerns that we've been voicing is this is a very rushed process. It was first announced about a week ago, and in that short time, the pastors have met, the trustees of the parish and finance councils are meeting lots of questions and not getting a lot of straight answers, so there's more confusion here again. No true clarity here again, so it's an unsettling situation. So we're hoping more information will be forthcoming before the final decisions are made," Pruski added.
She suggests each parish make its own decision on the information it has, but says the process is unclear, and each parish should get outside counsel support on how to interpret the plan.
"It's a confusing time" - Mary Pruski, Save Our Buffalo Churches
"It's a confusing time" - Mary Pruski, Save Our Buffalo Churches
