St. Bernadette to remain freestanding church after Vatican ruling

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — St. Bernadette in Orchard Park will remain a freestanding parish after a ruling from the Vatican, the Diocese of Buffalo confirmed to WIVB News 4 on Tuesday.

The ruling from the Vatican comes after parishioners publicly opposed the Diocese’s decision to merge the church with SS. Peter & Paul in Hamburg and appealed the ruling to the Vatican.

News 4 talked to parishioners who have been praying for this moment.

“It’s truly a redemption, it’s a rebirth, even though we never died and we proved that well to Rome, but it’s totally having all this weight off our back, all the blessings of stress are gone. We can fully live and flourish even more,” said longtime parishioner Mary Pruski, who is also a member of the group Save Our Buffalo Churches.

“I’m just thrilled because I knew all along truth was on our side and in this case truth prevailed,” said parishioner Angela Colosi. “It’s a wonderful, hopeful thing to get to see.”

St. Bernadette was among around 30 Western New York churches that filed appeals to the Vatican after the Diocese announced major changes last year to merge dozens of churches and close as many as 70 in an effort to pay back tens of millions of dollars owed in settled child sex abuse cases.

“The Diocese, will, of course, abide by this ruling and looks forward to (the) St. Bernadette parish community fully incorporating into the Family of Parishes,” Diocese official Bryan Zielenieski said in a statement Tuesday. “As we have maintained all along, the Diocese fully supports the right of parishes to appeal its decisions pertaining to closures and mergers.” The statement adds that 11 Vatican rulings have been “returned in agreement with the Diocese’s determination.”

St. Bernadette will join a family of parishes that includes SS. Peter and Paul Hamburg, Boston and East Eden along with Nativity of Our Lord in Orchard Park.