Joyous Announcement!!

On Thursday June 4,2026, the leadership team of St John Parish (Fr David, Carol Stitt, Dan Butler and Dan Hinz) met with officials from The Diocese of Buffalo (Bishop Fisher, Fr Peter Karalus Vicar General, Fr Dennis Mancuso Vicar Forane, Melisa Potzler Chancellor and Fr Sean Paul). The meeting was held in the parish center at St John Church.  Kim Palmer, Finance Director for our Family also attended.  It was at this meeting that we were able to convince The Diocese that we are worthy of remaining open as an independent parish and Bishop Fisher has since rescinded the decree of merger. WE ARE REMAINING OPEN AS AN INDEPENDENT PARISH.

This was a process that started with conversations with the attorney representing The Diocese as well as numerous conversations with The Vicar General.  We were able to convince them that data that had been presented to The Diocese was inaccurate. The data not only included financial information but mass attendance, loss of programs, mass schedule, and sacrament details as well. It also became clear that The Bishop has a desire for the school to be successful and how important the parish is to the school’s success. At this meeting, The Bishop listened intently as we provided a landscape of the issues we had.  We were able to show that we have processes that are under control and consistent as a direct result of changes being implemented by Fr David.

Our parish owes a huge debt of gratitude to Fr David; without him we would not have gotten this done. We also want to point out the fact that The Vicar General was considerate with his time over the Memorial Day weekend. It cannot be understated the work of our Trustees along with appeals that allowed our message to be heard and the data to be corrected. The Bishop in his graciousness realized our position and granted the recission of his decree with no stipulations on either The Diocese or our Parish.

We are remaining open!!!!  On to the Festival and many years of St. John’s Catholic Community. Thanks to all for your faith and prayers.