St. Joseph Cathedral in downtown Buffalo was filled to capacity on Tuesday of Holy Week (Apr. 19) for the annual Chrism Mass, highlighted by more than 100 diocesan and religious order priests renewing their commitments originally made at their ordinations.

Presiding over his seventh Chrism Mass as bishop of Buffalo, Bishop Edward U. Kmiec described the Mass as a "grace-filled celebration."

Washington - Reports of current instances of sexual abuse of minors continues to decrease, with seven credible allegations against seven priests reported in 2010, according to the 2010 Survey of Allegations and Costs done by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, CARA. At the same time diocesan audits are uncovering weaknesses in audit compliance and finding reports of boundary violations short of abuse, such as inappropriate hugging.

A credible allegation is one which has a semblance of truth to it following an initial examination of the facts and circumstances surrounding the allegation.

Bishop Edward U. Kmiec has informed members of St. Bernard Parish in Buffalo’s Kaisertown neighborhood that he has decided to delay the pending merger with Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish in Cheektowaga. Parishioners were informed of the decision at weekend Masses (Apr 2-3). Earlier this year, the bishop was considering a proposal to merge St. Bernard into Our Lady of Czestochowa, with the St. Bernard site to be closed.

“For a limited time, St. Bernard’s will remain a parish community. Given the demographics of the area and diocesan pastoral needs, this decision will be revisited in the fall of 2012," Bishop Kmiec said.  "Hopefully, this will give added time to see if the trends of decline of the parish can be reversed.”  Father Francis Chmielewski, temporary administrator of the parish, was named pastor of St. Bernard, effective April 1.

(CNA/Europa Press) - Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi recently announced the release of the book, “Traveling Companions, In-flight Interviews with John Paul II.”

The book, which features a selection of in-flight interviews the late Pope John Paul II gave to journalists, was released March 23 at the offices of Vatican Radio. Fr. Lombardi explained that Vatican Radio preserved recordings of the interviews given by John Paul II during the first years of his pontificate. The organization then made them available to journalist Angela Ambrogetti, author of the new book. The book was published by Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the Vatican publishing house
 

The Feast of St.  Joseph was a day of special celebration in the Diocese of Buffalo.  Not only did March 19 mark the feast day of the patron saint of the diocese, it was the 135th anniversary of the ordination of Venerable Nelson Baker, and a day in which Bishop Edward U. Kmiec celebrated a special Mass in honor of Father Baker at Our Lady of Victory Basilica in Lackawanna.  Read the complete story on theWestern New York Catholic website.

                      

Bishop Edward U. Kmiec has invited parishes throughout the Diocese of Buffalo to conduct special collections this weekend in support of earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in Japan.

All proceeds from the collection will be forwarded to Catholic Relief Services which is working with Caritas International and others to find pathways to bring aid to the many thousands stricken by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated northern Japan on March 11.

“We continue to pray for the people of Japan, those who have lost their lives in this disaster and the rescue workers, many of whom are risking their lives,” Bishop Kmiec said.

Catholic Relief Service personnel throughout the Pacific are standing ready to assist those affected by the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan early Friday morning.

"We know from 2004 the devastating impact that these tsunamis can have," said Sean Callahan, CRS' executive vice president for overseas operations. "As with all such disasters, CRS will help people recover from the emergency and stand with them as they recover in the months and years to come."

"These are advantageous times for Catholics to come home to their faith and the Church of their youth." With those words, Bishop Edward U. Kmiec reached out to Catholics who may have left the Church, and are using the occasion of Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent to welcome them home.

Nearly 1,000 noon hour worshipers filled St. Joseph Cathedral in downtown Buffalo for Mass, which included the distribution of ashes.

"No matter how long it has been, no matter what kind of lives we have led, no matter what kind of sins we have committed, we can always come home," Bishop Kmiec said. "We will always be welcomed. We will always find forgiveness. This is the meaning of Ash Wednesday in our gathering today. All of us here today, I include myself, are in the same boat. No matter how much or how little we live our faith … we are all sinners in need of God’s mercy."

Father David Bialkowski, former pastor of St. John Gualbert Parish in Cheektowaga, has been placed on administrative leave by Bishop Edward U. Kmiec, following an allegation of inappropriate conduct.

The Diocese of Buffalo issued the following statement on March 3:

Whenever there is an allegation of inappropriate conduct against a priest or, for that matter, any employee of the Diocese, certain policies and procedures are followed. This case is no different.

Mount Mercy Academy's annual Spirit Week was more than just a competition to show which class had more school spirit.  Instead, it was an opportunity to give back to our South Buffalo community. MMA Student Government and the Spirit Week committee of students developed the week-long event, "Food Fight," and were proud to participate.

The rules were simple:  each graduating class was assigned a container to fill with non-perishable food items. Each class earned a point for each food item but lost points when opposing classes stacked toiletries in their bin. The food drive lasted four days and the students combined gathered thousands of items for the South Buffalo Food Pantry which is operated by Catholic Charities.