Diocese of Buffalo
The Diocese of Buffalo is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Western New York in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese within the metropolitan province of the Archdiocese of New York. It was erected in 1847 and includes eight counties. The mother church is St. Joseph Cathedral in Buffalo. Michael Fisher is the bishop.
Range and population
The Diocese of Buffalo covers.History
1600 to 1800
In 1678, Louis Hennepin, accompanying French explorer René-Robert La Salle, celebrated the first mass in present day Buffalo.During the British rule of the Province of New York in the 18th century, Catholics were banned from the colony. Richard Coote, the first colonial governor, passed a law at the end of the 17th century that mandated a life sentence to any Catholic priest. The penalty for harboring a Catholic was a £250 fine plus three days in the pillory. In 1763, Catholic bishop Richard Challoner of London stated that:
“...in New York, one may find a Catholic here and there, but they have no opportunity of practicing their religion as no priest visits them, and … there is not much likelihood that Catholic priests will be permitted to enter these provinces."Anti-Catholic bias in New York abated during the American Revolution when Catholic France provided its support to the American rebels. After the approval of the New York Constitution in 1777, freedom of worship for Catholics was guaranteed. This was soon followed by the same guarantee in the US Constitution.
In 1784, the Vatican erected the Prefecture Apostolic of United States of America, covering the entire new nation. This action was necessary to remove the American church from British jurisdiction. The Vatican in 1789 converted the prefecture into the Diocese of Baltimore. It was the first diocese in the United States, covering the entire country.
1800 to 1830
In 1808, as the population of the country grew, the Vatican created several new dioceses, including the Diocese of New York. Western New York and the Southern Tier would be part of the Diocese of New York, followed by the Archdiocese of New York, for the next 39 years.By 1820, many Catholic Alsatians had moved to Western New York. The Diocese of New York had few priests in region; resident Catholics might not see a priest for weeks or months. Some Catholics would travel with their children to Albany or Michigan to have them baptised. Most of the time, they would wait to receive sacraments until a priest showed up in their town.
Bishop John Connolly of New York sent Patrick Kelly on a trip to Buffalo in 1821 to minister to these people. He celebrated one mass in a small building in the city.
Stephen Badin, a missionary from Kentucky, spent six weeks in Buffalo as the guest of Louis Le Couteulx, a French businessman. Badin celebrated public masses at Le Couteulx's home, urging the attendees to form a congregation. Le Couteulx donated a site for construction of a church, cemetery, and rectory. He later donated land for the Deaf Mute Institute, the Infant Asylum, Immaculate Conception Church, and the Buffalo orphan asylum.
1830 to 1847
After visiting Buffalo in 1829, Bishop John Dubois of New York sent John Mertz to Buffalo to become its first resident priest, assisted by Alexander Pax. Mertz in 1832 constructed the Lamb of God Church, the first Catholic church in the city. Over the next five years, Mertz formed congregations in Lancaster, Williamsville, North Bush, East Eden, and Lockport.Dubois sent Mertz to Europe to raise funds for the diocese and dispatched John Neumann to Buffalo in 1836 to assist Pax. Based out of Williamsville, Neumann served in the Erie County for four years. He walked many miles over rough roads and through woods carrying his vestments, to minister to parishioners.
Bernard O'Reilly ministered to laborers on the Erie Canal and in constructing the canal locks at Lockport. Thomas McEvoy of Java worked with Catholics in Allegany, Wyoming, Steuben, and Chautauqua counties in the Southern Tier of New York.
In 1837, the English-speaking parishioners at Lamb of God withdrew from the church as it was primarily a German-speaking parish. They formed a separate congregation, renting the second floor of a building in Buffalo where Charles Smith celebrated mass once a month. The congregation later purchased property to build their own church.
1847 to 1867
In 1847, Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Buffalo, taking its territory from the Archdiocese of New York. He appointed John Timon as its first bishop. Timon was fluent in Gaelic, which helped him minister to the Irish community in Buffalo. He appointed O'Reilly as his vicar general. The diocese rented several buildings near construction sites in the region to serve their workers. In 1848, the Sisters of Charity Order opened the first public hospital in Buffalo, Sisters of Charity Hospital.Timon laid the cornerstone of St. Joseph Cathedral in 1851. During its construction, a storm destroyed several homes in the area. Timon allowed displaced families to set up tents in the shelter of the cathedral's walls for several weeks. The cathedral was usable, but not complete, when it was dedicated in 1855. In 1851, Lucas Caveng, a German Jesuit, founded St. Michael's Church in Buffalo.
The Oblate Fathers in August 1851 founded a seminary and college in Buffalo. The financial Nicholas Devereux established St. Bonaventure College in Allegheny in 1855 as a Franciscan college for men. Today it is St. Bonaventure University. In 1856, the Vincentian Order founded Our Lady of the Angels Seminary in Lewiston. Today it is Niagara University.
In 1861, the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia established a Home for the Aged. Two years later, the sisters in Buffalo formed a separate congregation, the Sisters of St. Francis Third Order Regular of Buffalo. The Grey Nuns order in 1865 founded The Holy Angels Infirmary Academy for girls in Buffalo; today it is D'Youville University. In 1870, the Jesuit Order founded Canisius College in Buffalo to educate the sons of German immigrants.
1867 to 1900
After Timon's death in 1867, Pope Pius IX named Stephen V. Ryan from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as the second bishop of Buffalo. That same year, the pope erected the Diocese of Rochester, taking the eastern counties from the Diocese of Buffalo. Ryan unified the Catholic school system in the diocese and established a commission to supervise it. He founded the diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Union. Ryan died in April 1896. Soon after his death, the diocese moved the four Southern Tier counties from the Diocese of Buffalo to the Diocese of Rochester. In December 1896, Pope Leo XIII appointed James Edward Quigley as bishop of Buffalo.In 1899, the Longshoremen's Union, representing 1,500 workers in Buffalo who hauled grain out of grain ships into the grain silos, went on strike against the Lake Carriers Association. The Association paid these men through saloon keepers, who would subtract charges for room, board and drinks from the workers' wages, leaving them very little. When the saloon keepers raised their fees, the workers went on strike. Quigley opened St. Bridget Church as a base for the strikers, gave them strategic support, and acted as a mediator. The strike ended when the carriers agreed to pay their workers directly.
1900 to 1930
In 1902, Quigley embarked on a public campaign against what he termed "socialism" in labor unions in Buffalo. He claimed that Catholic workers felt that some union regulations were unjust and oppressive. Quigley wrote a pastoral letter in German to be read in ethnic German parishes that called on union members to assert their rights regarding union governance. He also spoke at mass meetings. While claiming to support the union movement, Quigley denounced socialism and gave his interpretation of why the Catholic Church opposed it. As a result of his anti-socialism campaign in Buffalo, Quigley gained a national reputation. In 1905, Quigley became archbishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago.The fourth bishop of Buffalo was Charles H. Colton of New York, selected in 1903 by Pope Leo XIII. During his tenure, the diocese had 72 churches, 18 combination school-churches, 30 schools, 12 academies, 13 hospitals and charitable institutions, six convents, and 28 rectories. In 1904, the Sisters of Mercy opened Mercy Hospital to serve residents of the south side of Buffalo.
After Colton died in 1915, Pope Benedict XV named Bishop Dennis Dougherty from the Diocese of Jaro in the Philippines as Colton's successor in Buffalo. At the time of Dougherty's arrival, the diocese was burdened with a $1.6 million debt from the construction of the new cathedral. He dramatically reduced the debt by taxing the diocese's parishes according to their means. During his tenure, he also established 15 new parishes and supported the World War I effort through liberty bond campaigns and Red Cross drives. In 1918, Dougherty became archbishop of Philadelphia.
Benedict XV in 1919 appointed William Turner as the next bishop of Buffalo. 1922, Turner helped lay the cornerstone of the Basilica of Our Lady of Victory in Lackawanna. Turner was a supporter of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, and in 1924 began a Catholic Charities chapter in Buffalo. He established more than 30 new parishes during his administration, including Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish in North Tonawanda.
1930 to 1970
Turner died in 1937. His successor was Bishop John A. Duffy from the Diocese of Syracuse, appointed by Pope Pius XI that same year. During his tenure, Duffy established the Diocesan Fund for the Faith for those impacted by the Great Depression and erected parishes in rural areas of the diocese. He organized the Catholic Youth Organization, the Bishop's Committee for Christian Home and Family, the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, and Newman Clubs at the local universities. Duffy died in 1944.Pope Pius XII selected Auxiliary Bishop John O'Hara of the United States Military Ordinariate as the next bishop of Buffalo in 1945. O'Hara expanded Catholic education in the diocese, and eliminated racial segregation in schools and churches. He became archbishop of Philadelphia in 1951. To replace O'Hara, Pius XII in 1952 named Auxiliary Bishop Joseph A. Burke, the first native of the diocese to become its bishop.
During his 10-year-long administration, Burke supported Holy Name Society, missions, the Pre-Cana program, Puerto Rican migrants, and displaced persons. He also continued the expansion and construction of educational institutions, including St. John Vianney Seminary in East Aurora, New York.
In 1957, the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph founded Hilbert College in Hamburg to train its novices to become teachers. It is today a coed Liberal Arts college. The Sisters of Mercy opened Trocaire College in Buffalo in 1958 to provide college courses for religious sisters.
After Burke died in 1962, Pope John XXIII in 1963 appointed Bishop James A. McNulty from the Diocese of Paterson as the tenth bishop of Buffalo. He reduced the diocesan debt, which was approximately $30 million, through a three-year Diocesan Development Fund. McNulty oversaw the implementation the Second Vatican Council reforms in the diocese, including the establishment of a priests' senate. McNulty promoted religious vocations and expanded inner city ministry. He established the Liturgical Commission, the Pastoral Council, a lay steering committee to oversee finances, and the Communications Office. McNulty began the television program The Bishop Visits Your Home.