FOCUS: CHURCH CONSOLIDATION
New names add to the complexity as parishes merge
Masses in St. William and St. Bonaventure Catholic churches last weekend marked the end of one era. A sign installed Monday at Harlem Road and Arcade Street, near the former St. William church, spelled out a new one.
It reads “Blessed John XXIII,” the name of the parish formed from a merger of the two West Seneca parishes and the latest in a growing register of new monikers being attached to area Catholic congregations.
North Tonawanda now has St. Jude the Apostle at the former St. Albert the Great, which merged with Ascension. In the Southern Tier, rather than calling themselves members of St. Matthias and St. Isaac Jogues, parishioners are now part of Christ Our Hope. Niagara Falls has Divine Mercy at the former St. Stanislaus Kostka, in place of St. George, Holy Trinity, Our Lady of Lebanon and Our Lady of the Rosary. And St. Isidore in Perry, based at the former St. Joseph Church, also has replaced the names of St. Stanislaus Kostka, as well as St. Mary in Silver Springs and St. Joseph in Bliss.
“Some people take to it readily, but some people are still using the old names,” said the Rev. Richard W. Blazejewski, pastor of St. Isidore, formed Sept. 1 from the merger of four parishes in Wyoming County.
In a few cases, the prospect of a name change has stirred up even more emotion in a diocesan restructuring effort that has left many Catholics disappointed, angry and resentful.
Bishop Edward U. Kmiec is responsible for choosing the new parish names, although in most cases he has relied on the parishes themselves to submit a short list of candidates.
At St. Bonaventure and St. William, where the new parish will be based, 35 different names suggested by parishioners were submitted to a committee for review — each with an essay describing why a particular name was fitting. The committee then forwarded four names to the bishop.
Choice honors change
Kmiec selected Blessed John XXIII, in honor of the pontiff credited with launching the Second Vatican Council that ushered in tremendous changes in the Catholic Church.
Although John XXIII hasn’t yet achieved sainthood, the name is becoming increasingly popular around the country, particularly in dioceses that have had to merge parishes because of priest shortages and declining memberships.
But Kevin Gavin, a longtime parishioner of St. Bonaventure, said the choice surprised him, largely because he was born after Vatican II and didn’t know much about John XXIII, who was beatified — a step prior to canonization — in 2000.
“People who were alive before Vatican II, most of them like the name,” he said. “Many people consider him the one who opened up the modern church.”
If you have trouble keeping names straight, consider the plight of the Rev. Bernard U. Nowak, who oversees five different Catholic church sites in the Southern Tier — each with its own name — plus two additional names for the new parishes created out of a recent merging of congregations.
St. Matthias in French Creek, for example, merged with St. Isaac Jogues in Sherman. Together, as a new parish, they’ve taken the name Christ Our Hope — although the buildings remain open and their names stay the same, per Catholic canon law.
Our Lady of Lourdes in Bemus Point and St. Mary in Mayville, likewise, have kept their building names, but the combined parish henceforth is known as St. Mary of Lourdes.
Confusion conceded
It can all get a little confusing, admits Nowak.
“We use all the names,” said the pastor, who has the added challenge of explaining the many monikers to seasonal Catholics from outside the Buffalo Diocese using vacation homes near Chautauqua Lake and Peak’n Peek Resort.
Parishioners in French Creek and Sherman were mulling over names in the spring just as Pope Benedict XVI was making his first visit to the United States as pontiff, a journey that had been dubbed, “Christ Our Hope.”
Members of the merging parishes thought the title fit perfectly — and Kmiec agreed.
“I heard from other parishes that we took their name,” Nowak said.
Kmiec has encouraged merged parishes to change names as a way to emphasize that new communities are being created — both for members of a parish whose church building remains open and for those who lose their longtime place of worship.
But some Catholics have resisted.
Parishioners of St. Teresa in South Buffalo recently rallied against an effort to change the parish name after its church at 1974 Seneca St. was designated the primary worship site in a merger with St. John the Evangelist.
Tradition argued
They argued that St. Teresa had special standing as the oldest parish in South Buffalo and that a name change would be more alienating to St. Teresa members than welcoming St. John the Evangelist members.
“I think we should just leave it alone,” said Kathleen Frawley, a longtime member of St. Teresa. “What our rationale was, first of all do a census and see how many of St. John’s parishioners are going to join us. Start from there. Then, maybe it would be worthwhile. But right now we don’t see there’s going to be a lot coming to our parish.”
The name change appears to have been scuttled, in favor of a plan to rename a wing of St. Teresa Church as the St. John the Evangelist Room, decorated with historical items from the church, which is slated to be closed in November 2009.
Some parishioners at St. Albert the Great also opposed a name change at the North Tonawanda church, which merged last November with Ascension Parish.
But others from St. Albert argued in favor of the change as a way to properly mark a historical moment in the life of both parishes, said the Rev. Edward F. Jost Jr.
Parishioners submitted three names to the bishop: St. Nicholas, St. Jude the Apostle and St. Thomas Aquinas.
Kmiec chose St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes and things forgotten.
“A lot of people,” noted Jost, “had been praying to [Jude] so that their parish wouldn’t close.”
Patron of farmers
The parish put up its new sign last weekend, and a statue of St. Jude donated from another parish was installed in the sanctuary. A large statue of St. Albert the Great remains on the front lawn along Niagara Falls Boulevard, but someday will be moved inside.
Jost continues to invoke St. Albert and St. Jude during the Eucharistic prayer.
In largely rural Wyoming County, Kmiec chose St. Isidore of Madrid for a group of four merged parishes after a parishioner researched the name and discovered that the obscure saint was the patron of farmers.
“It was very appropriate,” Blazejewski said.
Still, some parishioners were having a difficult time leaving behind more traditional names, such as St. Joseph, which had been a Catholic parish name in Perry for nearly 130 years.
“It’s going to take time,” Blazejewski said.
