|
Guest Editorial
Catholic church closings affected by sprawl, changes
I was in Poland in the summer of 1972, and what struck me the most was the painstaking resurrection of the churches bombed almost to oblivion during WWII. Brick by brick, the Poles were piecing back these structures, the backbone of their faith and their traditions. They did not want to abandon these wonderful monuments that connected them to their community. They did not care to rid themselves of these structures that symbolized their struggles and their history.
Today, in Buffalo and Western New York, the Catholic Diocese is proposing the closing of many churches -- some as old as 150 years. Some of the churches still standing in Europe as spiritual havens, historical landmarks or cultural icons are well over a thousand years old. It makes you wonder why after a mere 150 years we're willing to close something that once meant so much to us. The truth is, there is a large gap between what we were 150 years ago and what we are now. And the operative of that gap is called sprawl. We have sprawled to the outer bounds of what brought us here. Because of straying so far from our core we no longer walk to church. We drive mostly alone. We have abandoned our community and in the process, we abandoned some of the traditions and structures that went along with the community. The church may have been our foundation, but that foundation gets pretty weak when the community isn't there to support it, and especially when the community spreads itself miles away and builds a new foundation.
Even though these are Catholic churches, I believe that this is not a Catholic issue alone. I am a firm believer in the separation of church and state but I also believe that certain problems need everyone's attention. I would be hard pressed trying to sell Western New York as a viable region to relocate to if all I could present were boarded up historical icons of our forefathers and mothers. And even though my Uncle Joseph (artist) and my father Alois (painter/decorator) did a lot of the artwork in the churches that made the hit list, I am not writing this for selfish reasons. I would have the same feeling if this issue would be about the closing of a synagogue, temple or mosque.
My main concern is how any closing impacts the entire Western New York community. This move has to be well thought out and well planned, as it impacts us all. The answer is not as simple as "board them up and let them rot." No, we must have a plan in
place.
Thomas Mazur, Legislator
| 
