Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Faced with a decree of extinctive merger issued Oct. 31, 2024, St. Michael’s Church at 651 Washington Street in the City of Buffalo was the first parish to enter Canon Law recourse supported by St. Joseph Canon Law and Save Our Buffalo Churches.
Their formal petition to Bishop Michael Fisher to reconsider the merger was denied.
St. Michael’s took the next step in the process and filed an expanded appeal to the Dicastry of the Clergy in the Vatican. At the end of a 90-day response window on Monday, St. Michael’s Procurator, Craig Speers, received official notification from Rome saying “Lazzaro Cardinal You Heung Sik, Prefect of the Dicastery of the Clergy, has accepted our appeal for examination and has granted a suspension of the extinctive merger for the duration of the appeal recourse."
The letter was dated for Feb. 3, 2025.
Mary Pruski with Save Our Buffalo Churches believes the Buffalo Diocese may have targeted St. Michael's, along with more than 30 other parishes they represent, as an easy closure. However, the parishioners turned to them with the hope of saving their parish.
"We filed with Bishop Fisher for our first appeal, and he declined. So we went straight to Rome, and this is our first approach at Rome with the situation here in Buffalo. And it seems we have broken that glass ceiling. They have opened up an investigation, they will study it further," said Pruski in an interview with WBEN. "This is our first parish that appealed to Rome, and Rome has answered us directly back with an affirmative. So we're thrilled for the people at St. Michael's and, of course, all our other parishes that are with us earlier in the appeal process."
Save Our Buffalo Churches and the whole community of Western New York parishes walking through the recourse process are joyful with this first breakthrough. A response from the Dicastery has been eagerly anticipated for months, and the hope is this will be the first of many appeals to be examined and decrees suspended.
"There is such great hope, and we're just praying that Rome listens to our plea, sees our evidence and our facts that back that our parishes are truly alive and should continue to remain active and serving the people in their district in the Buffalo area," Pruski said. "We know our appeals, our rationales are very clear and very heartfelt. This is what Rome is now sensing when they read our appeals."
The Dicastery of the Clergy will need, at least, several months to complete their investigation and review. While Pruski estimates it'll take between 3-to-6 months before a decision on the appeal is made, the Dicastry’s ability to grant itself extensions obscures any definite timeline for completion.
The clear merit of St. Michael’s situation, supported by weeks of prayers, rosary recitations and fasting all together, has led to this most momentous step.
So what happens if the Dicastery of the Clergy does not favor St. Michael's upon their investigation into the appeal? According to Pruski, the next level to submit an appeal is the Supreme Court of the Vatican, otherwise known as the Apostolic Signatura.
"That takes another larger document, as well as an Italian Canon lawyer, in person presenting the case to the Apostolic Signatura. That will take a little bit of finances to pay for that, but that is the top step," Pruski explained. "And if that should fail, and we believe all of our churches do have a great case for being turned back from what the Diocese wants to do, there are other Canon Law opportunities. But this is the most robust, and the St. Joseph Foundation has found this is the most successful way to approach a diocesan movement that is against what the people want, what the people need."