Never Say Die
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by Peter Koch
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Never say die
East Side parish appeals to higher powers
St. Adalbert Catholic Church, slated for a merger with St. John Kanty Parish, is still open for business, despite recent reports issued by the Catholic Diocese. Though Bishop Edward Kmiec decided last summer to close the 122-year-old East Side church, the congregation—led by an organization called Save Saint Adalbert—has demonstrated a marked unwillingness to give up. The group has filed two appeals to the bishop’s decision with high Vatican courts, and both have been defeated. Following both decisions, made respectively by the Congregation for the Clergy and the Vatican’s highest court, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Diocese of Buffalo issued statements of victory.
But Save Saint Adalbert received a letter from the Vatican on March 12 that said the reason their petition was denied was because they “must first try to resolve the issue at the local level by asking the same Bishop to emend or revoke his decision (canon 1734).” That same day, Ted Kniazuk, Stan Kowalski and Ron Suchocki met with Bishop Kmiec and other church officials to present their reasons for keeping the parish open. If those negotiations should fail, St. Adalbert’s intends to reinitiate the appeals process. But for now its operations continue as normal with regular Mass celebrated on Saturday and Sunday.
For up-to-date information regarding St. Adalbert’s status, visit savesaintadalberts.org.
—peter koch
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