No one who authorized such a sale could possibly be a believing Catholic. This is the third Catholic Church in Buffalo to turned into a mosque.
We are led by fools and much, much worse. The S250,000 is chump change in the grand scheme of things. I am sure that local Catholics could have easily raised a few million to save Saint Anne’s. Better to have it deconsecrated and torn down. The people in charge of the diocese are doing this solely because they want to see this insult to the Faith. Go here for background on this blasphemy. Apparently the Buffalo diocese has a long history of basically giving Catholic churches away to non-Catholics. You know it would help so much if people at the top of the Church would stop giving constant evidence that they actually believe nothing in what the Church teaches.
However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
Luke 18:8
Apparently, not in Buffalo ….not if He comes in the near future.
Satan laughs at the faithless who makes a deal like this.
What a shame indeed.
How is that even allowed? Churches are sacred ground because they are the location of the Tabernacle/Altar which consecrated and houses the Holy Eucharist- the Body and Blood of our Lord. Who authorised this? And to muslims- Muslims purposefully take over Christian land . It’s on their plan to make all lands Islamic.
Ezabelle…
You are so correct. It’s their plan and then some. We have a loving Father. They have a Master that must be obeyed and infidels must be converted…or else.
This site, at worst, should of been demolished. My guess is $$$.
More $ to destroy it. Sell it cheap.
The plunging numbers of Mass attendance via Covid and the new theology which is Catholic lite haven’t helped. None’s are on the increase.
The shame is that the Faith hasn’t been nurtured in families as it should. Families are broken.
Many parishes are broken too.
And this is coming to St Louis, where we are paying for the upkeep of Theodore McCarrick but are slated to lose up to 100 of the remaining 178 parishes in our archdiocese. Despite the decimation to our catholic culture, when it happened in 2005, no evangelization happened as was expected but it is now! 19,000 Catholics in what is north St Louis County, who currently have ten parishes, will be shoved into three, whiteout the physical facilities such as parking, etc. our pastors, for the most part, have been disappointingly poor shepherds, preferring “obedience” over telling us the truth. On the plus side, when this abomination started, and CLI aid being paid an unknown sum in the name of transparency to destroy yet another archdiocese, we are fighting back
Prayers coming your way Agnes.
What a time in history.
Optimism…
Rural areas are seeing an increase in vocations to religious life. TLM will live on…if need be, underground.
You can’t stop Christ.
Deconsecrate the building and see if you can find a real estate developer who will reconstruct the interior that it might be used for offices, shops or apartments.
where we are paying for the upkeep of Theodore McCarrick
How?
19,000 Catholics in what is north St Louis County, who currently have ten parishes, will be shoved into three, whiteout the physical facilities such as parking, etc.
The smart money says perhaps 5,000 will appear at Mass on a typical Sunday.
our pastors, for the most part, have been disappointingly poor shepherds, preferring “obedience” over telling us the truth.
Over the period running from 1965 to 2000, the number of ordinations to the secular clergy in this country declined from 1,000 per year to about 450 per year. The number to the regular clergy declined from about 500 per year to about 50 per year. I’m not sure they even publish the data anymore. What’s more, the median age of ordinands increased from about 29 to about 37, so your priests have a shorter shelf life. The truth is, you do not have the manpower to staff all these parishes and they’re sparsely attended on Sunday.
we are fighting back
Yeah, that’ll get you more vocations.
Pittsburgh has been facing this problem for a long time. The latest round of considations has not yet resulted in the closure of a massive amount of church buildings, but it has happened.
There is a beer hall/restaurant in Lawrenceville that was a church. The former St. Eluzabeth Church in the Strip District has been a bar, a nightclub and is now a nondenominational church. St. James Parish in the West End, the Society of St. Pius X parish, was an art gallery for years. The school building/church in Oakland initially used by the Latino community is now an apartment building. The St. Regis parish in South Oakland where Dan Marino was an altar boy and later used by the Latino community is now closed. There was only street parking in a neighborhood with no driveways.
The real estate is often worth something, but to give away a parish….
After Bishop Malone (and his predecessors), the Diocese of Buffalo has a lot of lawsuits to pay off. Plus, ecumenism!
For the godless, worldly pederasts in clerics, this is a win-win.
After Bishop Malone (and his predecessors), the Diocese of Buffalo has a lot of lawsuits to pay off. Plus, ecumenism!
Bp. Malone may have been a lousy bishop. He was not, however, responsible for pederasty and pedophilia manifest among the clergy. By the time he and his two immediate predecessors took charge of the see, the damage had already been done.
The money, $4 billon and counting, to pay off the homosexual priest abuse cases has to come from somewhere. Until all the homosexual predators are removed from the priesthood, nothing is going to change. Yes, the abuse was and is a homosexual issue, not this bs clericalism dodge these pansies in the hierarchy claim.
An example of why withholding money will not change the direction of the governor’s of the Church. They literally have billions in property (relics to come later) to sell off to support their hedonistic lifestyle and modernist teachings.
The money, $4 billon and counting, to pay off the homosexual priest abuse cases has to come from somewhere.
As I noted the money in this case is chump change. They could have made far more selling it to faithful Catholics or even secular developers. Turning it into a mosque was their goal.
He was not, however, responsible for pederasty and pedophilia manifest among the clergy.
He resigned in disgrace for having covered for it. There’s even a recording …
By the time he and his two immediate predecessors took charge of the see, the damage had already been done.
… The damage had begun decades before and continued at least through Malone’s tenure. I’m skeptical as to whether they’re done yet.
Not even getting into the old “people are the church, buildings are just where they gather debate” – It’s still a beautiful work of art and history.
They couldn’t sell to some protestants or other Christians? They sold to muslims?
Heck here in town there was a beautiful old… Methodist church iirc which was sold to a greek restaurant owner who kept the exterior intact and redecorated the interior. It’s a lovely place to eat at (and still feels like a better fate for a church building than becoming a mosque.
“Convert, leave or die” and I am sending money to the Catholic community in Lebanon, down from 1,250,000 to 200,000…
Might I add that the refugee camps in Lebanon are run by muslims. “Convert, leave or die” is not freedom.
We don’t have any Mosques in our neck of the woods…thanks be to God, so I’m sincerely asking; In metropolitan areas in the States, do they, the Muslims, call out on a PA system the many prayers during the course of the day?
Just wondering.
It is interesting, that the devotion to pray to Mohamud throughout the course of the day has not hindered the expansion of Islam but on the contrary, has helped it to grow. EU as an example.
And the American Catholics?
Their devotion.
Their public presence?
With the exception of a handful of prayer warriors the Church in the west is only a shell of what it used to be.
A Eucharistic Congress and mighty processions would not hurt…after all, Christ is the King. Chicago had one in the 30’s I believe, and millions participated. [ The days of Cardinal Mundelein. ]
First, it is shameful that a Catholic church is converted into a Muslim mosque. There’s no justification for that.
But second, in the first few hundred years after Christ, Christians met in each other’s homes. There were no church buildings, primarily because Christianity wasn’t tolerated by the Roman government. Church was called “Ecclesia” which means “Assembly” and did NOT denote a building. Maybe God is going to allow us to return to that modus operandi in order to regain our first love for Him.
Revelation 2:4-5
4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember then from what you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
do they, the Muslims, call out on a PA system the many prayers during the course of the day? ~ Philip
There’s a mosque in Sunrise Florida that does, it’s actually quite beautiful. Hearing it made me sad recalling that Catholic churches used to call people to sing the psalms at the prescribed times throughout the day. That was the old evangelization … Now you’d probably have to live near a Benedictine monastery to hear them.
He resigned in disgrace for having covered for it. There’s even a recording …
https://www.wkbw.com/longform/7-i-team-church-record-show-more-than-100-accused-priests-not-42-as-stated-by-bishop-malone
Two problems: one is how to classify an accusation (note, these are accusations), when the event supposedly occurred, and when the diocese received the accusation. For 20 years, I’ve been asking the people huffing and puffing over this to state their criteria for sorting and evaluating accusations. I’ve never had an answer. Among the non-responders was Leon Podles, a retired FBI agent.
I happened to have been personally acquainted with two priests of the diocese of Syracuse accused. One was put on trial in Montgomery County, NY and the charges against him fell apart. The other received a letter 14 years after he retired informing him that his faculties were removed on account of a pair of accusations. The midpoint of his ministry was around 1977. He’s collared by the local papers three years later and he says I’m 89 years old and people who know me will not take this seriously. I can do nothing about this.
We pray the Angelus at 6, 12pm and 6pm in our little hamlet, Isadore Michigan. The Church bells ring and all stop to pray. It’s a beautiful reminder of who we truly belong too.
Keep in mind that Isadore is the site of Holy Rosary Catholic Church. The old hamlet is bare. It’s our faith community that keeps the tradition alive….and Fr. Libby ofcourse.
Thank you Cag.
Maybe someday Sunrise Florida will be hearing the bells from the Catholic Churches reminding the faithful of the true God. I have a crazy hope for the Muslims. The Fatima connection. Mohammed’s daughter and the Blessed Virgin Mary’s apparitions in Portugal.
Hope does spring eternal.
Our new church was consecrated March 2022. It is a white brick, simple Gothic church but beautiful surrounded by fields of soybeans and winter wheat. Bas relief Stations of the Cross, an exquisitely carved baptismal front, reliquaries, crosses and candlesticks are from deconsecrated churches, mostly in Pittsburgh area. Used items are more beautiful and less expensive, even with reconditioning.The hunt is on now for a communional rail. The tower bells ring on the hour which is wonderful to hear since our farm is close by. The Mission here in VA was founded in 1890 by Poles and Bohemian farm workers who travelled by steamship from Baltimore. Trinitarian priests came by boat from across the Potomac to celebrate Sunday Mass. Protestants donated the land and building supplies for the first little church in 1890.
It seems a sacrilege for a non Christian religion to buy and use a former Catholic church. Especially making it into a mosque! Why not a museum dedicated to the first and succeeding Catholic immigrants? My father-in-law was first generation Polish; born in Buffalo.
Deconsecrate the building and see if you can find a real estate developer who will reconstruct the interior that it might be used for offices, shops or apartments.
How do you deconsecrated a Church? Genuinely asking. Further, the building would not necessarily be sold off to pay for law suits and compensation pay-outs. If the Church numbers were dwindling, address the dwindling numbers. Don’t sell off the Church. The financial mismanagement from the top is the problem. The age-old rule- you never sell bricks and mortar applies for a reason. The Church needs to manage its finances and assets with its future in mind.
Also, as a side, not all accusations of abuse would be genuine. This again, goes back to the Churches mismanagement of the issue of sexual abuse at the hand of the accused Priests. I don’t have a solution, however this response of moving the priest around and “run for cover” approach makes the Church always appear guilty. Address the issue head-on and with nothing to hide.
My comment posted at Lifesite News 10 Jan 23
While the destruction of noble parish church buildings plays out in Buffalo and throughout the Holy Church, there are enclaves that offer hope and can prevent us from sliding into defeatism. While traditional orders have risen to the occasion other enclaves like The American College of the Building Arts in Charleston, SC are leading the charge to restore tradition. this school has been training a new generation of carpenters, stone carvers, iron smiths and architectural designers to rediscover and grow professionals in the traditional building trades ( to include sacred buildings). Yes, there are people who are working to restore not only beauty but a sense of place and history.
I wonder: May there have been complications which nobody wants discussed?
Though I definitely prefer the older building my traditional-rite parish uses, ..it has distinct limits.
Faithful people built many–most?–older, more beautiful buildings when a parish focused much more on immediate surroundings and people would walk to Mass. Buildings may be smaller; they often have minimal parking available. It may not be only a matter of a few million to renovate the building itself. If they’re downtown, they may need several more million to buy space to build parking lots.
May there have been complications which nobody wants discussed?
Nothing complicated about the fact that the diocese took chump change to have a Catholic Church transformed into a mosque. To quote Heston, “Damn them! Damn them to Hell!”
The same standard as applies in our criminal courts, proof beyond a reasonable doubt, should be applied by the Church to Preist accused of sexual offenses. Also, Preist convicted in criminal court of sexual abuse of minors should face harsh punishment of numerous years in prison. If not enough evidence for a Grand Jury indictment, then any so called “credible accusation “ is a farce. I imagine it’s fairly easy to lodge a “credible accusation “ against a person dead for ten years. Again, those found guilty should be punished severely by the Church and the State, while affording them the same constitutional rights as any American citizen who is not a Preist.
If the Church numbers were dwindling, address the dwindling numbers. Don’t sell off the Church.
[…] The Real & Present Danger of Volunteers – Brice Sokolowski at CatholicFundraiser.net Buffalo Sells Landmark Church to Muslims – D. McClarey, J.D., at The American Catholic Post-War Catholicism in the United States […]
Self-portrait? 😜
We pray the Angelus at 6, 12pm and 6pm in our little hamlet, Isadore Michigan. The Church bells ring and all stop to pray.
That’s wonderful, Philip! I grew up in Michigan. Even the Archdiocese of Detroit was a more faithful place way back then (Bishop Gumbleton not withstanding). In my youth shops were closed on Good Friday.
@ Mary DeVoe: If you want to be sure your money indeed goes to help refugee Catholics in Lebanon and Syria, it is my hopefully accurate understanding that the Knights of Columbus Christian Refugee Relief Fund (to which you can donate online @ Kofc.org), is the most effective donation for your dollar. (They also send you a nice donation summary in January of the following year..)
@CAG.
I applaud Chik-Filet and Hobby Lobby for their faithfulness. Closed on Sundays. I’ve heard many a business in Texas has followed suit.
The pendulum never stops swinging.
One day it will stop.
These Godless politicians are supported by godless constituents.
We must support each other in this background. Hopefully our actions will win some converts.
…Battleground….
Oops, sorry