ROAD TO RENEWAL INFORMATION UPDATE—”Family of Families”

ROAD TO RENEWAL INFORMATION UPDATE—”Family of Families”

History: The Diocese of Buffalo’s prior Apostolic Bishop Scharfenberger formed the Diocesan Renewal Task Force (DRTF) as a collaboration of clergy and laity to study, gather input and formulate recommendations for the Diocese of Buffalo to renew and reinvigorate its ability to serve the mission of the Catholic Church in our region.

Initially, the DRTF was assisted by consultants from Leadership Roundtable. Leadership Roundtable is an organization of laity, religious, and clergy working together to promote best practices and accountability in the management, finances, communications, and human resource development of the Catholic Church in the U.S. including greater incorporation of the expertise of the laity. With a variety of input, the DRTF researched how other dioceses have walked the same journey and recommended that renewal could be facilitated by bringing parishes together into closer collaboration for the larger good under a model known as “Families of Parishes.” This Model is forming the foundation for similar journeys across the nation, and in particular, the Diocese of London, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan were examined in depth to understand the Model and its implementation more fully.

Our new shepherd, Bishop Mike Fisher, supported the recommendation of the Families of Parishes model which is consistent with the Congregation for the Clergy instruction dated July 20, 2020, which involves: "The Pastoral conversion of the parish community in the service of the evangelizing mission of the Church.”

The Task Force, with input from a variety of constituencies involved in diocesan parish development, formulated draft groupings of the Buffalo Diocesan parishes into families, offering the following guidance to consider as they carried out the work:

• Every Family will be known as a center of prayer, spiritual nourishment, and a place to encounter Jesus in the sacraments.
• Every Family will be known for charity and healing, with special care for the poor, the vulnerable and the wounded.
• Every Family and Catholic school will live within its financial means.
• Every Family will have competent leadership.
• The Diocese will have capacity to serve parishes in this journey.

Over the last several months, you have read or heard about the reorganization of the Diocesan parish structure called the Road to Renewal as placed into units called “Families.” These Families were to be composed of 3 to 6 parishes based on geographical proximity to one another. The objective for grouping into Families is to have each parish collaborate and coordinate with each other and then support one another in their implementation of services and programs to build up and strengthen the Catholic presence and Christ’s mission in their region.

In our Cattaraugus County, a plan has been put forth for two families to exist. One family would be the grouping of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Olean, St. John the Evangelist in Olean, and St. Bonaventure in Allegany. The other grouping would include -- Our Lady of Peace in Salamanca, Holy Name of Mary in Ellicottville, and St. Philomena in Franklinville. Each parish site will maintain its independence, but also would work on becoming interdependent in order to reduce duplication of programs and thus provide strong and substantial ministries and services for the area.

Over the next few weeks, primary reasons for the Road to Renewal and the need for the Family of Families model and its goals will be addressed such as the necessity for revitalization of the parishes in our Diocese stemming from institution and religious structural changes within our society and several other factors. While awaiting further explanations about the model we will be following, please consult the diocesan website: roadtorenewal.org to keep informed.

The Good news for our parish communities of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and St. John the Evangelist is that we have already been linked during the past few years. The Lord has already brought us together to support each other in the important and critical task of bringing His Mission to this blessed, beautiful area within the Southern Tier. Compared to other parish families, we are somewhat knowledgeable about how to collaborate and use our gifts together for our common goals of serving God and each other.

This past weekend, representatives from our linked parish communities participated in prayer and worship of Our Lord and received further information from the Diocese about this comprehensive endeavor during a special Rosary and Mass at Fatima Shrine in Lewiston. The material gathered will be reviewed and shared to help us in our efforts to further link us to St. Bonaventure of Allegany within our family of families’ unit to strengthen God’s presence and witness in the Southern Tier and beyond.

ROAD TO RENEWAL

Our Family of Families Representatives

Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels
Jim Tkacik
Justin Smith (alternate Jean Smith)

St. John the Evangelist
Dennis Pezzimenti
Dee Cecchi

St. Bonaventure in Allegany, NY
Representatives to be announced

Dennis Pezzimenti attended the Road to Renewal Mass in Fatima Shrine on August 29, 2021.