Final masses will be held on Saturday at two popular Buffalo churches. St. Thomas Aquinas in the heart of south Buffalo and St. Bernard’s in Kaisertown are closing and will merge with nearby parishes.
“There was anger, sadness, tears,” reflected Marty Brownsey, parishioner, St. Thomas Aquinas.
WKBWBrownsey has been attending St. Thomas Aquinas on Abbott Road for nearly 50 years, but Saturday is expected to be the last time he will attend mass in his beloved church.
“Can’t even imagine. It doesn’t even seem real yet, to tell you the truth, it’s weird not to have Masses scheduled for Sunday,” Brownsey noted.
The church is among the 78 churches the Buffalo Diocese plans to close and merge from now until next June as part of Road to Renewal to right size and reshape the shirking Catholic community in Western New York and as the bankrupt diocese deals with debt and a priest shortage.
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