Current News

Yesterday afternoon, the diocese received a complaint against Father Joseph C. Gatto involving an alleged sexual advance made on an adult. Bishop Richard J. Malone has placed Father Gatto on administrative leave as an investigation continues.

All of God's creation should be cared for and protected, even bees. So how do you protect a hive when it has become a problem and is in danger of damaging a church?

This fall Katie Bishop will again walk the halls of St. Mary School, Swormville, as a fourth-grade teacher. Bishop is also an alumnus of St. Mary's, but so is her mother, grandparents and a great-grandfather. Her family, the Herbergers, put down roots at St. Mary's and the family tree has grown healthy in faith ever since.

Catholic Charities of Buffalo announces the recent election of three new members to its board of trustees and one appointment and two promotions to its leadership team within the organization.

When students returned to school this moth, the Canisius High School campus looked at bit different than it did last fall.

About 900 Catholic school educators in the Diocese of Buffalo will gather on Friday, Sept. 28, for an educators' convocation at Cardinal O'Hara High School, 39 O'Hara Road, Tonawanda. The biennial meeting will include teachers and administrators from all diocesan elementary and middle schools, which will be closed that day.

The Holy Name Society at the Church of the Annunciation, 7580 Clinton St., Elma, will hold a Pork Chop Dinner and Theme Basket Auction beginning at noon Sunday, Oct. 28. The event will take place in Selbert Hall.

"The book of the genealogy of Jesus, Christ, son of David, son of Abraham," thus Matthew begins his gospel (1:1). This tongue-twister list of biblical names is only read on a weekday in Advent and most recent writing on the list has focused on the unusual inclusion of five women, namely Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba) and Mary. However, since verse 1 presents the overall image of Jesus the Messiah (Christ) in Matthew, thoughts here will focus on "son of David" and "son of Abraham" as images applied of Jesus.

Several diocesan offices and the Samaritan Counseling Center gathered to address the crisis of opioid addiction and related deaths that has hit Western New York with a workshop that addressed the scientific, social and spiritual perspectives of addiction. The Sept. 22 presentation, held at Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, was one in a series of events that the diocese has held on the topic.

All are invited to join Bishop Richard J. Malone on Sunday, Sept. 30, at St. Joseph Cathedral, 50 Franklin St., Buffalo, for a Holy Hour of Reparation and Healing at 3 p.m. All priests, deacons, consecrated religious and lay faithful are encouraged to attend.

While the Catholic Church has always discouraged capital punishment as part of its pro-life teachings, Pope Francis strengthened the language of opposition in August, changing the Catechism of the Catholic Church to state "the death penalty is inadmissible."

For 38 years, faithful Catholics have been gathering at the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Lewiston for the annual Rosary Crusade for World Peace. This year's crusade will be held on Sunday, Oct. 7, from 2-3:30 p.m. The shrine is located at 1023 Swann Road, Lewiston. "Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary, intercedes for all humanity" is this year's chosen theme.

The Back-to-School ads have been running since the 4th of July, and now September is here and back-to-school is real. Families all across Western New York are settling into a regular routine of waking early, packing lunches, catching the bus and doing homework. Families also start to get busy with many extra-curricular activities. Sports practices, scouts, or other clubs makes September feel even more hectic. Throw into the mix the suggestion that this can also be "back-to-church" time, and it could be enough to send a parent over the edge with the thought of too many commitments.

Christ the King Seminary will host its annual Curé of Ars awards dinner on Thursday, Oct. 4 at The Atrium @ Rich's in Buffalo. This year's event will honor Father Gregory J. Dobson and Joseph A. Stoeckl, Esq.

St. Joseph School in Batavia, which just celebrated its 150th anniversary, is about to make a big change. The only Catholic elementary school is Batavia will become a regional school sometime this fall. This will allow the school to reach out beyond its parish boundaries to serve students from the surrounding area. It seemed like a logical step for the school.

After receiving an abuse complaint against Father Ronald B. Mierzwa, Bishop Richard J. Malone has placed Father Mierzwa on administrative leave as an investigation continues.

The Foundation for Inclusive Catholic Education (FICE) will continue the conversation about inclusive education in the Diocese of Buffalo, by presenting the keynote speaker for the annual Diocesan School Convocation to be held on Sept. 28. Dr. Michael Boyle from Loyola University in Chicago will address national trends of inclusive education within Catholic Schools.

"The covering of the head with a veil symbolizes the reality of woman sheltered in the side of her Source and becoming one with Him. She becomes covered and hidden in her Divine Spouse." - St. John Chrysostom

There is a saying that you can never go back again, but for St. John the Baptist alumna, Lauren Kocher, going back to the Alden elementary school was always her intent.

The 13th annual diocesan catechetical convocation is slated for Wednesday, Oct. 3 at the Grapevines Banquet Center, 333 Dick Road in Depew. Nationally known speaker and author, Julianne Stanz will give the keynote, Missionary Discipleship and Transforming Leadership. Stanz is currently the director of discipleship and leadership development for the Diocese of Green Bay and a consultant on the USCCB's committee for evangelization and catechesis.

Under the shadow of intense criticism of diocesan leadership, a Catholic congregation from all over Western New York came together at Our Lady of Victory Basilica in Lackawanna to witness the celebration of the ordination of 15 men to the order of the diaconate on Saturday, Sept. 15.

If all goes well, by the time you read this, Danielle Arthur will be adding Esq. to her business cards. The Williamsville native earned top honors in school from kindergarten all the way up to her recent graduation from Columbia Law School. She credits her success to a foundation in Catholic education.

The Diocese of Buffalo is pleased to announce that it has hired Kathy Baranski Spangler as its director of Communications.

Msgr. Francis M. Skupien, longtime pastor of St. Mary Parish in Gasport, died Sept. 12, 2018, at the age of 91.

After receiving an abuse complaint against Father John J. Sardina, Bishop Richard J. Malone has placed Father Sardina on administrative leave as an investigation continues. This administrative leave is for the purpose of investigation and does not imply any determination as to the truth or falsity of the complaint.

Sept. 15-Oct. 15 of every year in the United States we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. This celebration began as a weeklong celebration by President Lyndon Johnson and became a monthlong celebration during Ronald Reagan's presidency in 1988. Across the United States schools, colleges, community organizations and churches celebrate.

Another school year is upon us and our Catholic Schools will once again open its doors to children of all faiths. Though open to all faiths, our Catholic identity and Christian values are present, and clearly evident as the primary focus of each school along with an exemplary academic program. Families who choose Catholic education for their children understand that a spiritual learning environment helps to strengthen the Christian values they teach within their own homes. Having children who daily interact with other children practicing those Christian values and seeing them modeled by the adults around them helps strengthen our future families and communities.

We've all seen those commercials about who to call when you slip and fall. But who do you call months later when you find yourself still taking opiates for the pain, and can't stop? Your local parish should be able to answer that question.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - As three airliners smashed into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, and Flight 93 crashed into a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001, Joaquín Navarro-Valls, at the time the director of the Vatican press office, delivered the news to Pope John Paul II.

Bishop Richard J. Malone delivered the following message to the faithful in the Diocese of Buffalo. His letter was read at Masses throughout the diocese on the weekend of September 8 and 9, 2018:

Catholics and Lutherans gathered together at Christ the King Seminary on Aug. 15, to continue a dialogue that has shown promise in mending the 500-year rift that has kept the two faiths focusing on their differences, rather than focusing on what they have in common.

Bishop Timon - St. Jude High School invites all sixth, seventh and eighth grade boys and their parents to its annual Open House on Tuesday, Sept. 25, and Wednesday, Sept. 26, from 6 to 8 p.m

On the first day of classes at SS Peter and Paul School in Williamsville, kindergartners and first graders in the first row squealed and smiled as they were hit with holy water. They were gathered in the new 'Mind Cave' which was blessed by Bishop Richard J. Malone Wednesday afternoon.

Buffalo native Father Jeremiah McGinley, OFM, a professed Franciscan friar for 67 years and a priest for 63, died on Aug. 30 at Holy Name Friary in Ringwood, N.J. He was 89.

It is important that I once again address the topic which has caused so much pain for so many. You do not need me to remind you that grave sins and crimes committed by a small percentage of clergy have had wide-ranging and long-lasting effects both here in our diocese and in the worldwide Church. I am convinced that the best way to respond to complaints of past abuse and to restore trust in the Church and her clergy is to be as open and as transparent as reasonably possible in addressing the complaints and taking action against offending priests.

(Olean) — Local Roman Catholics heading to Mass after Labor Day weekend will need to re-think their normal routine. That's because a new Mass schedule goes into effect for three area Roman Catholic parishes—Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, St. John the Evangelist Church, and St. Philomena Church in Franklinville.

WASHINGTON—In his 2018 Labor Day statement, Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, calls for all persons to work together for just wages, which are necessary for families to flourish. A just wage is one that "not only provides for workers' financial well-being, but fosters their social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions as individuals and members of society."

He didn't wear a fedora or carry a bullwhip, but Msgr. Paul J.E. Burkard did lead an adventurous expedition into a historical land as Our Lady of Victory took its annual pilgrimage. This year 22 pilgrims traveled to the Holy Land, visiting Israel, Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

St. Casimir Church, the home of the world's first shrine to the Domestic Church, will offer classes on easy family faith celebrations for the home. The 10-week series offers traditional, user-friendly ways to invite Jesus into the family household.

When friends gathered together to reminisce about the old days, who knew that it would blossom into a full blown class reunion for the Christ the King School class of 1968. Through social media and friends reaching out to other friends, most of the class was able to reconnect. They came from California, Texas, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Vermont and from all parts of New York state.