ROAD TO RENEWAL

In August of 2020, Bishop Scharfenberger, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese, saw a need in the Diocese to plan for the future. Our Church in the Diocese was and still is faced with many challenges; the abuse crisis in the church; Bankruptcy; the Covid Pandemic; Declining resources and the viability of parishes; and the declining number of priests.

As a way to strengthen the presence of the church and its mission across Western New York, a plan for the future called The Road to Renewal was implemented. It is a way for the Church of our Diocese to plan for the future life of the Church.

The Road to Renewal will focus on: Spirituality to strengthen the faith life of the Church; Catholic Education as a means embracing the needs of our children and families in their knowledge of their faith; and Priestly Life and Ministry to address the diminishing number of priests.

In order to accomplish these goals the Road to Renewal is adopting the Family of Parishes model to bring together parishes in geographic proximity that will work together, sharing resources, personnel and priests to make our parishes stronger. According to this model a family of parishes will be a grouping of parishes made up of three to six parishes.

The Family to which we belong consists of 5 parishes, 5 worship sites and 1 school within 2.4 miles. Currently there are 5 pastors assigned to these parishes. The parishes are: St. Louis, St. Joseph Cathedral, Blessed Sacrament, St. Anthony of Padua, and St. Michael. These five parishes in downtown Buffalo draw similar congregations from across Western New York.

In the future we will be hearing more about this. For more information on the Road to Renewal, please visit the Diocesan website www.roadtorenewal.org.