Letter to the Diocese of Buffalo:
Where to begin? Angry? Disappointed? Heartbroken? No one word seems to sum it up. And I am not trying to describe how I feel about the decision to close Ascension, I am trying to describe how I feel about THE WAY the decision was handled. The fact that the only church I have known for my entire life, that my parents AND GRANDPARENTS have known is closing, yes that's sad, but it's a story that every parish has right? It's one that I am sure the Diocese of Buffalo has grown numb to. While this fact is still true and valid, that's not exactly the point. What is the most upsetting is how the Diocese communicated this decision to us -- they didn't. At no point did the Bishop or any front-facing Diocese person say the following, "We are PRAYERFULLY considering all counter proposals, if your parish wasn't on the initial list of closures, be ready because it may happen." You gave us NO warning at all that this would take place. Now yes, did everyone know that the counter proposals were being reviewed? But there was no transparency to our Parish regarding this closure, at least other parishes had time to absorb the fact that they were on the initial list and pray for a different outcome, we don't get such an opportunity.
I am not naive enough to pretend I don't understand. There is another Catholic church less than a mile away from us. Why are other parishes closing and those congretation members having to drive 20 minutes or more when we in Batavia don't have to? I get that side of it, I do. But our church is financially solvent and structurally sound thanks to it's congregation and previous leadership. We have never had boiler issues, foundation cracks, bats in the belfry or any other problems.
