Newsletter May 13th

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 and the President of the St. Joseph Foundation.  He and the St. Joseph Foundation team have provided much of the guidance to Save Our Buffalo Churches (SOBC) regarding Diocesan Decrees.  He advised that he is very impressed by the success rate SOBC has had so far with the Dicastery for the Clergy accepting appeals for review.  When the Dicastery accepts appeals for review, they then advise the Bishop that all actions should be suspended and the respective location should have its position reverted to their status as of the day before the Decree was issued.  Here are other takeaways from the event:

• There are now 54 churches in the Buffalo Diocese who are members of SOBC – we are one of the 54.

• The Dicastery for the Clergy has 90 days to respond to appeals

  • Our Appeal for Suspension start date for the Dicastery was 4/2/25.  This is the date the Nuncio in Washington DC advised us they were sending our appeal to the Dicastery via diplomatic pouch.  This makes the Dicastery response date no later than 6/30/25

  • Our Appeal for Revocation start date for the Dicastery was 4/30/25, the date the Nuncio advised us they were sending our appeal by diplomatic pouch.  This makes the Dicastery response date no later than 7/28/25.

• The Dicastery is overloaded and understaffed so we should not expect to hear from them before the 90 days are up.

• Asia and Africa submit 2-1/2 to 3 times more appeal requests to the Dicastery than come from the United States.  This is related to religious persecution that is occurring in those areas.

• Should the Dicastery not reply within 90 days we will send our appeal to the Apostolic Signatura.  We have 60 days to send this appeal to the Signatura.  There are three appeal steps within the Apostolic Signatura – In Limine/Collegium/Congresso.

  • This first appeal step with the Signatura does not require us to hire a Roman Canon lawyer.  There is no cost for this step.

  • Typically what happens when the Signatura receives an appeal due to lack of response from the Dicastery, then the Signatura prompts the Dicastery to respond.  The Dicastery may then reply to our appeal request or extend their reply another 90 days.

  • We will be provided a template for this step with the Signatura should it be needed.  So far this step has not been required by any of the churches in the SOBC group.

• Should the Dicastery accept either of our appeal requests for review they will then advise the Bishop and request his response (rebuttal) within 60 days.  We are not privy to any response the Bishop provides.

• The Signatura is not bound by a timeframe.  In order for our request for appeal there not to be considered abandoned we will follow up with them every 60 days, using input parameters that the St. Joseph Foundation will provide.

• There have been issues within the Dicastery where Trustees have been terminated for supporting appeals.  Should this happen, Philip Gray advised that we notify the Dicastery and copy the Bishop with a letter protesting this action.

  
  

I apologize for the length and complexity of this update.  The key to remember is this can be a long, slow, complex process and we must maintain our focus and remain aligned.  Prayers are a great way to help us navigate this process and the Psalms are a great way to do this.  They are full of encouragement and will help us to not lose faith.

Thanks – we are strong when we pray and stronger when we pray together.

If you know someone who does not have access to the internet and would like to receive our newsletters and updates, please let us know! Send an e-mail to Dan at dhinz52@gmail.com or fill out the Contact Us form on the Home Page of the website (savestjohnsolean.com).