Father Walter Grabowski (left), Father William J. Weiksnar, OFM

Father Walter Grabowski was named pastor of St. Gabriel Parish, Elma, effective Sept. 1. The previous pastor, Father Daniel Palys, retired at the end of January 2017. Father Grabowski's new assignment is for a term of six years. He had been serving as pastor at Immaculate Conception Parish, Eden, and Holy Spirit Parish, North Collins.

A native of Poland, Father Grabowski came to the United States in 1983 after being ordained in Poland and studying for a year in England. His first assignment in the Diocese of Buffalo was in 1984 at Assumption Parish, Buffalo, where he served as a parochial vicar for eight years. He went on to serve in the same capacity at Queen of Martyrs, Cheektowaga, for more than seven years before being named pastor at Immaculate Conception in 2000. In 2010, he took on the additional responsibilities as pastor of Holy Spirit Parish.

Bishop Malone also named Father William J. Weiksnar, OFM, pastor of SS. Columba & Brigid Parish, Buffalo, for a term of six years. Father Roy Herberger, the former pastor, retired in late August. Father Weiksnar, a Franciscan order priest who grew up in Buffalo, has been serving in the diocese for a few years, ministering to the poor in the city of Buffalo.

Father Weiksnar entered the Order of Friars Minor in 1988 and was ordained a priest in 1994. Following his ordination, he ministered to the immigrant population in Maryland, began the Franciscan Center for Social Concern at St. Bonaventure University, and served as pastor of a parish in Camden, N.J.