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Save St. John’s Newsletter – April 2, 2026 We await an answer from the Dicastery regarding our merger appeal.  The 90 day extension they sent us expired on April 1.  Responses can take weeks to arrive here when issued.  A follow up to the Dicastery will be sent in the coming days if we don’t receive their response.  Please pray for a favorable outcome here so we don’t have to go the next step, the Apostolic Signatura. On March 25 th  I, along with 3 others from Save Our Buffa

We continue to await a response from the Dicastery regarding our appeal of the Decree for Merger.  The extension they provided earlier has an April 1 (as confirmed by Save Our Buffalo Churches) due date.  Should they rule in favor of the Diocese or remain silent, our appeal has already been sent to the Apostolic Signatura, which is the last step in the appeal process. Our appeal regarding the Assessment ($211,800) has been sent to the Apostolic Signatura.  This is due to no r

As reported earlier, we received a three month extension from the Dicastery regarding our appeal asking them to revoke the Bishop’s decree.  The date of their letter was January 2, 2026.  This means the Dicastery now has until April 2 , 2026 to provide their ruling regarding this appeal and that the suspension of the decree continues.  In the letter they invited us to send any additional supporting material that we believe supports our recourse.  I provided a packet of additi

This update picks up where our December 20 and 21 meetings in our Church Hall left off. Our merger decree appeal to the Apostolic Signatura has been submitted since we had not received a ruling from the Dicastery within the time limit specified in the process. While this appeal was in route, we did receive an update from the Dicastery. They have extended their review for another three months. This means they now have until April to rule on our merger decree appeal. We expect

Great news! We are confirmed for use of the St. John's Church Hall for appeal update meetings.   Please spread the word .  It is important we reach as many parishioners and interested persons as possible.   Here are the dates and times: Saturday, December 20th - 4:30 pm (before the 5:30 mass) Sunday, December 21st - 10:30 am (after the 9:30 mass) The meetings will be identical, so attending one is all that is requested. The agenda will include: * Apostolic Signatura Appeal re

As discussed at the meeting on November 20th, here is the response to our temporary administrator's letter. The original letter was distributed the weekend of November 8th and 9th. November 9, 2025 Reverend Dennis Mancuso, I am writing to provide feedback to your November 5, 2025 handout regarding the fund that was established with the Cattaraugus Regional Community Foundation (CRCF) by parishioners of St. John the Evangelist parish. In your document you say there was no fore

St. John’s Update Meeting When:  Thursday, November 20, 2025 Time: 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm Where:  Pulaski Club Agenda:  Update on Appeals Watchlist and General Updates Cattaraugus Regional Community Foundation Account Status Question & Answer Spread the word! We will cover the agenda multiple times if needed to accommodate when people arrive. There are so many conflicts this time of year, so we have expanded the time to be available for more people.  We need a big turnout to sha

I just received a letter dated October 2, 2025 from the Dicastery for the Clergy that was sent through the Apostolic Nuncio. The Dicastery accepted for review our appeal of the assessment, suspended the contribution for the duration of the recourse and notified the Bishop of their decision.  Please be aware that due to the diligence of Dan Butler and Carol Stitt, our Trustees, we have not made the payment. Thank you for your support, and please continue your prayers for a pos

A new EMCC Advisory Board has been established with representation from each Parish.  The members from St. John’s are: Carol Stitt, Dan Butler, Anita Schmidt, Jay Sorokes, John Baglione, and Michael Hinz. Several members of St. John’s and St. Mary’s are homeschooling their children/grandchildren in religious education.  This was the result of the conflicting time (9:15am Sundays) established for the classes at St. Bonaventure.  This time would have resulted in St. John’s par

The Bishop and his team have an upcoming meeting in Rome in October, date not known at this time.  The Bishop, Richard Suchan (Chief Financial Officer), and Father Bryan Zielenieski (Vicar for Renewal and Development) will be meeting with the Pope and his team.  Philip Gray (Canon Lawyer) thinks this is not a typical status review, which Bishops are required to have with the Pope every five years.  Philip Gray thinks this meeting is the result of the large numbers of appeals

Two big updates! First, notes from a Special Meeting of St John's Corporate Board. A special meeting of the corporate board of St. John's Olean was called by the Diocese for August 4, 2025.  The board of directors consists of Bishop Fisher, Vicar General Father Karalus, Father Chris Emminger, Carol Stitt, and Dan Butler.  The agenda was as follows: Discussion and vote on the parish resolution to make a contribution to the Chapter 11 bankruptcy settlement of the Diocese of Bu

We received our much-anticipated reply from the Dicastery regarding our Suspension Appeal.

Updates since the Newsletter on June 9th.

Please be advised that we will be sending a new appeal against our $211,800 assessment to the Bishop by Friday, June 20.  This appeal, or...

The following are the meeting minutes from June 4, 2025, in which was discussed adopting a 501c3 for donations, among other topics. St...

Cindy and I [Dan] attended a presentation and discussion by Philip Gray on May 8th at the Buffalo Irish Center.  Philip is a canon lawyer...

It has been a little while since our last newsletter as Cindy and I (Dan) were out of the area. Here is a summary of where things stand...

As per an article posted today (April 8th) by WKBW, many churches are receiving news that their appeals to suspend closings and mergers...

Highlights: Our Remonstratio to Bishop Fisher was confirmed received on 3/17/25 – within the requirements of the appeal process.  The...

Highlights: Our Remonstratio to the Bishop’s decree will be sent to the Bishop on March 14, 2025, well within the ten-day window from...