A judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by parishioners from nine Buffalo Catholic Churches seeking to prevent their assets from being used to help pay the Diocese of Buffalo’s $150 million sex abuse settlement.
This past Friday, Judge John J. DelMonte issued an 11-page decision saying he would not get involved with a Catholic Church matter, favoring the diocese’s arguments that a court ruling would be a legal attack on internal church governance.
“We are pleased that Judge DelMonte has concluded that the Bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo, indeed, maintains the authority for decisions that clearly involve matters specific to the operations of parishes and broader considerations that bear on the Catholic Church of Western New York,” diocese spokesman Greg Tucker said in an emailed statement about the dismissal.
While the decision maintained a separation of church and state, it also affirmed that the Vatican took up appropriate canon law recourse regarding the assessment fund action. Final decisions on that may not be reached for a couple of months.
In September, the Vatican’s Dicastery of Clergy reversed the diocese’s decision to close All Saints in Lockport on the grounds of using funds from selling the property to help pay for the settlement, a ruling that applies to other parishes. It is still reviewing whether to close the church due to declining attendance.
The ruling was done without prejudice, so it is possible another lawsuit or court hearing could be filed for another reason, such as the diocese looking to get more settlement funds from parishes.
The nine churches involved are All Saints in Lockport, Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bowmansville, Our Lady of Peace in Clarence, St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta in Depew, Blessed Sacrament in Tonawanda, St. Bernadette in Orchard Park, Holy Apostles in Jamestown, St. John XXIII in West Seneca, and St. Aloysius Gonzaga in Cheektowaga.
The lawsuit came after the diocese announced in June that parishes would contribute a total of $80 million from their unrestricted savings toward the settlement, including 80% from those that were planned to close or merge. Seven parishioners from five churches filed the lawsuit in July with five parishioners from four other churches, including All Saints, joining a few weeks later.
Parishioners and members of the Save Our Buffalo Churches organization have said it violates canon law.
A hearing in the state Supreme Court in Buffalo took place in August.
This ruling also comes as Bishop Michael Fisher and other diocese staff plan on going to Rome in October. Mary Pruski, spokesperson for Save Our Buffalo Churches, said they are waiting for any more decisions coming out of Rome and the outcome of the bishop’s visit.