Diocese of Buffalo

Diocese of Buffalo Diœcesis Buffalensis
St. Joseph Cathedral
Location
Country	United States
Territory	Western New York (Counties of Erie, Niagara, Genesee, Orleans, Chautauqua, Wyoming, Cattaraugus, and Allegany, New York)
Ecclesiastical province	Archdiocese of New York
Headquarters	795 Main Street Buffalo, New York 14203
Statistics
Area	16,511 km2 (6,375 sq mi)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2018) 1,527,681 727,125 (47.6%)
Parishes	161
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	April 23, 1847
Cathedral	St. Joseph Cathedral
Patron saint	Saint Joseph
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Bishop	Michael William Fisher
Metropolitan Archbishop	Ronald Hicks
Bishops emeritus	Richard Joseph Malone Edward M. Grosz
Map
Website
www.buffalodiocese.org

The Diocese of Buffalo (Latin: Diœcesis Buffalensis) 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 6,455 square miles (16,720 km²).

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 (Steuben, Schuyler, Chemung, and Tioga) 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.^{: 110} 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.

1970 to 2010

McNulty died in 1972; Pope Paul VI then appointed Auxiliary Bishop Edward D. Head of New York as the next bishop of Buffalo. Head established the Religious Education Coordinators Council, the Priests' Retirement Board, the Center for Church Vocations, the Western New York Catholic Hospital Health Care Council, the Peace and Justice Commission, the Office of Vicar for Religious and the Permanent Diaconate Program. Head ordained 124 priests and confirmed 50,000 people during his 22 years in Buffalo. Head retired in 1995.

Pope John Paul II appointed Auxiliary Bishop Henry J. Mansell of New York as the twelfth bishop of Buffalo in 1995. Mansell established the Catholic Health Care System of Western New York, combining the local Catholic hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care facilities. In 1996, he instituted the diocese's vicariate structure and in 1997 celebrated the diocese's 150th anniversary. He instituted a televised "Daily Mass" celebrated from a chapel at St. Joseph Cathedral. Mansell became archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford in 2004.

To replace Mansell in Buffalo, John Paul II appointed Bishop Edward Kmiec from the Diocese of Nashville as the next bishop of Buffalo. In 2007, Kmiec announced that the diocese had a balanced budget, after spending cuts reduced a $2.1 million deficit from the previous year.

In August 2009, the Buffalo News reported the removal of Fred R. Voorhes as administrator of St. Teresa's Parish in South Buffalo and the subsequent dismissal of Marc J. Pasquale, as its business administrator and director of religious education. Parishioners expressed in interviews their discontent with these removals. Pasquale had gone to the Erie County District Attorney's Office prior to his dismissal to raise concerns about questionable financial practices in the diocese.

2010 to present

Kmiec was heavily criticized for downsizing the diocese from 274 parishes and missions in 2005 to 170 in 2011. He also oversaw the closures of 25 elementary schools. During his tenure, Kmiec ordained only 18 priests from 2004 to 2011. He retired in 2012.

Bishop Richard Malone of the Diocese of Portland succeeded Kmiec the same year. In 2015, he issued a letter condemning the 2015 film Fifty Shades of Grey. In his statement, Malone spoke of "the moral reprehensibility of all domestic violence and sexual exploitation."

In September 2019, leaked audio recordings of Malone revealed that he had diverted 40 percent of donations sent to Catholic Charities in the diocese to a foundation known as "The Bishop's Fund for the Faith." The foundation was included in the diocese's budget as a separate corporate entity, which would protect the money from lawsuits and bankruptcy filings.

In October 2019, the Congregation for Bishops in Rome assigned Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio from the Diocese of Brooklyn to lead an apostolic visitation, or investigation, of the Diocese of Buffalo. After the visitation, Pope Francis accepted Malone's resignation as bishop in December 2019. The television program 60 Minutes Overtime reported that month that Malone's resignation was linked to documents leaked in 2018 by his executive assistant, Siobhan O'Connor, detailing his concealment of sexual abuse by priests.

With Malone gone, the pope named Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger from the Diocese of Albany as apostolic administrator. In February 2020, the diocese filed for bankruptcy as a result of the numerous sexual abuse lawsuits. Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora was closed in 2020. Mary McCarrick became the diocese's first chief operating officer in 2020.

To replace Malone, Francis in December 2020 named Auxiliary Bishop Michael Fisher from the Archdiocese of Washington as the new bishop of Buffalo. As of 2023, Fisher is the current bishop of Buffalo.

Reports of sex abuse

1986 to 2018

In February 1986, Gerald C. Jasinski, a priest of St. Mary's Parish, was charged with first-degree sodomy, first-degree sexual abuse and unlawful dealing with a child. He was accused of sexually assaulting two teenage boys at a cabin in Sheldon. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual assault in August 1986, receiving five years of probation. Jasinski was laicized in 1988.

2018

In September 2018, a diocesan database showed over 106 clergy with credible accusations of sexually abusing children; the diocese had previously reported 42 clergy in March, 2018. Officials explained that the March list reflected "priests against whom we had substantiated allegations – meaning more than one allegation – and were accused of abusing minors, not adults." A few active clergy on the list were suspended. In September 2018, Malone named Steven L. Halter, a former FBI investigator, as director of the diocese's newly created Office of Personal Responsibility, tasked with handling sex abuse complaints.

2019

In February 2019, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Child Victims Act. The law created a one-year lookback period in which victims of child sex abuse could file civil lawsuits against abusers that were previously barred by the statute of limitations. In May 2019, the diocese announced that its voluntary compensation program had paid $17.5 million to 106 childhood victims of clergy sexual abuse; the diocese had rejected 135 applicants.

By September 2019, 100 individuals had filed sexual abuse lawsuits against the diocese. That same month, the diocese published an Adult Sexual Misconduct Policy and Procedures and a new Code of Pastoral Conduct for Clergy. After the apostolic visitation in October 2019, Malone retired in December 2019.

2020

In February 2020, the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid numerous sex abuse lawsuits. In April 2020, Bishop Scharfenberger, the apostolic administrator of the diocese, revealed that as part of the bankruptcy agreement, the diocese would halt cash payments and benefits to 23 diocesan priests suspended due to sex abuse allegations.

Also in April 2020, Cuomo extended the statute of limitations deadline to file sex abuse lawsuits in New York, originally set for August 2020 to January 2021. In response, the diocese filed an adversary motion to freeze the lawsuits, stating that it could not pay future sex abuse settlements if the lawsuits continued.

2024

In March 2024, the diocese agreed to sell at least 22 properties for $9.8 million as part of its bankruptcy agreement. The properties included its headquarters.

Territories

The Diocese of Buffalo includes the following eight counties in Western New York:

• Allegany
• Cattaraugus
• Chautauqua
• Erie
• Genesee
• Niagara
• Orleans
• Wyoming

Bishops

Bishops of Buffalo

1. John Timon, C.M. (1847–1867)
2. Stephen V. Ryan, C.M. (1868–1896)
3. James Edward Quigley (1897–1903), appointed Archbishop of Chicago
4. Charles H. Colton (1903–1915)
5. Dennis Joseph Dougherty (1915–1918), appointed Archbishop of Philadelphia (elevated to Cardinal in 1921)
6. William Turner (1919–1936)
7. John Aloysius Duffy (1937–1944)
8. John Francis O'Hara, C.S.C. (1945–1951), appointed Archbishop of Philadelphia (elevated to Cardinal in 1958)
9. Joseph Aloysius Burke (1952–1962)
10. James Aloysius McNulty (1963–1972)
11. Edward Dennis Head (1973–1995)
12. Henry Joseph Mansell (1995–2003), appointed Archbishop of Hartford
13. Edward Urban Kmiec (2004–2012)
14. Richard Joseph Malone (2012–2019)
15. Michael William Fisher (2021–present)

Former auxiliary bishops

• Joseph Aloysius Burke (1943–1952), appointed Bishop of Buffalo
• Leo Richard Smith (1952–1963), appointed Bishop of Ogdensburg
• Pius Anthony Benincasa (1964–1986)
• Stanislaus Joseph Brzana (1964–1968), appointed Bishop of Ogdensburg
• Bernard Joseph McLaughlin (1969–1988)
• Donald Walter Trautman (1985–1990), appointed Bishop of Erie
• Edward M. Grosz (1990–2020)

Other diocesan priests who became bishops

• Francis Xavier Krautbauer, appointed Bishop of Green Bay in 1875
• Thomas J. Walsh, appointed Bishop of Trenton in 1918 and later Bishop and Archbishop of Newark
• Edmund F. Gibbons, appointed Bishop of Albany in 1919
• John Joseph McMahon, appointed Bishop of Trenton in 1928
• James Johnston Navagh, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Raleigh in 1952 and later Bishop of Ogdensburg and Bishop of Paterson
• Celestine Joseph Damiano, appointed Apostolic Delegate to South Africa and Titular Archbishop in 1952 and later Archbishop (personal title) of Camden
• John Joseph Fitzpatrick (priest here, 1942–1948), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Miami in 1968 and later Bishop of Brownsville
• Robert Joseph Cunningham, appointed Bishop of Ogdensburg in 2004 and later Bishop of Syracuse

Major ministries

• Campus Ministries
• Catholic Charities
• Holy Name Society
• St. Vincent de Paul Society
• Office of Pro-Life Ministries

Institutions

Catholic Health

Catholic Health is a non-profit organization sponsored by the Diocese of Buffalo and the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph that operates the following hospitals in Western New York:

• Kenmore Mercy Hospital – Kenmore
• Lockport Memorial Hospital – Lockport
• Mercy Hospital of Buffalo – Buffalo
• Mount St. Mary's Hospital – Lewiston
• Sisters of Charity Hospital – Buffalo
• Sisters of Charity Hospital, St. Joseph Campus – Buffalo

Convents

• Convent of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph – Hamburg
• Villa Maria Motherhouse Complex, also known as the Felician Sisters Immaculate Heart of Mary Convent Chapel and Convent – Cheektowaga
• Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity at Stella Niagara Education Park, Stella Niagara, Lewiston

Education

Colleges and universities

• Canisius University, Buffalo
• D'Youville University, Buffalo
• Hilbert College, Hamburg
• Niagara University, Lewiston
• St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure
• Trocaire College, Buffalo
• Villa Maria College of Buffalo, Buffalo

High schools

As of 2025, the Diocese of Buffalo operates 13 high schools:

• Archbishop Walsh Academy, Olean
• Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School, Buffalo
• Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart, Amherst
• Canisius High School, Buffalo
• Cardinal O'Hara High School, Tonawanda
• Chesterton Academy of Buffalo, Lancaster
• Mount Mercy Academy, Buffalo
• Mount Saint Mary Academy, Kenmore
• Nardin Academy, Buffalo
• Notre Dame High School, Batavia
• Saint Francis High School, Athol Springs
• St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, Buffalo
• St. Mary's High School, Lancaster

Elementary schools

As of 2025, there are 34 Catholic primary schools in the Diocese of Buffalo.

School restructuring

In 2007, the diocese closed 14 Catholic schools.

According to the diocese, in 2007 the average cost of teaching a student in the 14 schools was $4,738 while the schools only received an average tuition per student of $1,525. To assist parishes who had run out of money to support their schools, the diocese had contributed millions of dollars. In 2007, the diocese had a $2.1 million deficit, due in part to the school subsidies.

Many of the 14 schools had experienced declines in enrollment. Cheektowaga, which lost five schools in 2007, had suffered a large decline in its Catholic family population. One of its schools, Infant of Prague School, had an enrollment of 1,120 students in 1960. By 2007, the school had only 117 students. In Depew, St. Barnabas School had only 57 students enrolled in 2007.

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Diocese of Buffalo is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.

• Part of: Ecclesiastical Province of New York

External links

• Official website

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Diocese established 23 April, 1847, now comprises the counties of Erie, Niagara, Genesee, Orleans, Chautauqua, Wyoming, Cattaraugus, and Allegany, in the State of New York, U.S.A., an area of 6,357 square miles. It was set apart from the great Diocese of New York and the see located at Buffalo on Lake Erie, the territory comprising nearly one-third of the State of New York. In 1868 the Diocese of Rochester was formed from the eastern counties of this territory; and in 1896, after Bishop Ryan's death, four more counties, Steuben, Schuyler, Chemung, and Tioga, were taken from the Diocese of Buffalo and added to the Rochester jurisdiction.

Indian Missions

Two of the nations of the Iroquois League, the Senecas and the Cayugas, dwelt in this region before the advent of the white men. The Senecas had villages in the valley of the Genesee about twenty miles from Lake Ontario, and the Cayugas erected their cabins near the lake which still bears their name. The Seneca was the most populous and warlike nation of the League. In their frequent raids into the country of the Hurons of Northern Canada, they carried off many captives who had been instructed in Christianity by the French missionaries from Quebec. So numerous were these Huron Christian captives that they formed an entire village, which was called St. Michael's, in memory of their old Huron home. Jesuit missionaries visited these towns in 1656, and cheered the Christian captives who had lost all hope of ever again beholding a "Black Robe". In 1669 this village was located in the north-east part of the present town of East Bloomfield. The Rev. Father Fremin, a Jesuit, established his residence in this town in the fall of 1668, built a chapel, and said the first Mass there, 3 November, 1668. Three years later the Rev. James Pierron became the resident missionary at Gannagaro, or St. James, a Seneca town situated on Boughton Hill, south of the present village of Victor. The principal village of the Cayugas was situated about three and one-half miles south of Union Springs, near Great Gully Brook. This was called St. Joseph's by the Jesuits. Father Carheil built a chapel there in November, 1668, and immediately began his work of instructing. There was another town of the Cayugas at the northern extremity of Seneca Lake. Another chapel was built in the large Seneca town of Gandachioragon, or Totiakton, which was called the Immaculate Conception by the Jesuits. This was situated near Lima, about ten miles west of St. James.

The Jesuits had four or five prosperous missions within the territory of the original Diocese of Buffalo, in which they laboured successfully for ten years until English intrigue and subsequent wars with the French forced them from the field. During those years they baptized nearly all the dying; they imparted a general knowledge of Christianity to the two western nations of the League; they strengthened the old Huron Christians in their faith, and added several hundred Iroquois converts to the Church. Many of the Iroquois chiefs sided with the English, in the war of the latter against the French, and the French missionaries were forced from the field of their labours. Many of the Christian Indians had already abandoned their homes in the Iroquois country for the new settlements on the St. Lawrence, under the protection of the French; and many more accompanied the Fathers in their flight, and settled on the St. Regis, or at Caughnawaga, where they still practise the Faith they acquired in their Iroquois homes. In the summer of 1669 the explorer, La Salle, with two Sulpicians and a party of twenty-five men, started to explore the region of the Great Lakes in search of a north-west passage to India. They skirted along the southern shore of Lake Ontario, crossing the mouth of Niagara River, until they reached Burlington Bay, where the party disbanded. La Salle went again in 1678, with Father Hennepin, in a large vessel which entered the Niagara River on 6th December, to the strains of the Te Deum. The next day a party with Father Hennepin ascended the river in a canoe, and landed on the northern shore, near the present suspension bridge on the Canada side. On 11 December, 1678, they landed on the other side of the river where Father Hennepin said Mass. This was probably the first Mass celebrated within the present limits of the Diocese of Buffalo. A little fort was built there as a protection against Indian assault. Then they proceeded up the river, about five miles about the Falls, where the "Griffon" was built. Father Hennepin remained there all winter, holding service for the men in a little chapel until the vessel was towed up the river to the present harbour of Black Rock, where it anchored until it was in readiness to sail as the first vessel on the lakes.

Catholic Settlers

After Denonville had destroyed the Seneca towns in 1687, he sent a detachment of his army to establish a fort at the mouth of the Niagara River. A garrison of one hundred men was left there with a chaplain. Many died the following winter, and the fort was abandoned. It was reoccupied in 1726, and from that date regular services were held in the chapel until 1759, when the fort capitulated to the English. Soon after the Revolutionary War the Government began building military roads, and the State legislature made appropriations for building highways, and these offered intending settlers better facilities for proceeding farther inland. There was a highway through the State before 1820, reaching to Lake Erie. Buffalo and Erie County offered advantages to intending settlers, and about 1820 many Alsatians located in the vicinity. Many of these were Catholics, but they had no priest, and they could only keep alive the religious spirit by family devotions. The Rev. Patrick Kelly, ordained by Bishop Connolly of New York in 1821, was sent to minister to the Catholics of the western part of the State. He visited Buffalo the same year, and held one public service in a little frame building on Pearl Street. The Rev. Stephen Badin was the first priest to remain any length of time in Buffalo. His field of labour was Kentucky, but sickness compelled him to seek rest. He visited Buffalo for six weeks as the guest of Louis Le Couteulx, who then lived at the corner of Main and Exchange Streets. Here he said Mass for the Catholics of the town; and he urged them to organize and form a congregation. Mr. Le Couteulx started the good work by donating a site for church, cemetery, and priest's residence, at the corner of Main and Edward Streets. The deed was sent to Bishop Dubois as a New Year's gift in January, 1829. Bishop Dubois visited Buffalo the same year and concluded that the number of Catholics in the vicinity required the attention of a resident priest, so the Rev. John Nicholas Mertz was sent as the first pastor of Buffalo. On this occasion Bishop Dubois sang a solemn high Mass in the court-house; and in the afternoon a procession composed of different nationalities marched from the court-house to the site for the new church where the ground was blessed by the bishop. father Mertz rented a little frame building on Pearl Street, back of the old Eagle tavern; and here he held services until the "Lamb of God", a rough timber church, was erected on the property at Main and Edward Streets. The corner stone of this first church of the diocese was laid 8 July, 1831, but the church was not opened for services until the following year. In the next five years congregations were formed at Lancaster, Williamsville, Nor Bush, East Eden, and Lockport. Father Mertz, with his assistant, the Rev. Alexander Pax, looked after the spiritual interests of the Catholics of the first four places, and the Rev. Bernard O'Reilly of Rochester attended the Catholics of Lockport.

Buffalo grew quickly after becoming a city. The church on Main Street was too small for the rapidly increasing numbers. The English-speaking members withdrew from the church in 1837 and formed a separate congregation, renting the second floor of a building at the corner of Main Street and the Terrace; where the Rev. Charles Smith said Mass for them once a month. Father Smith was employed on the other Sundays at Java, or in looking after the spiritual well-being of the Catholics employed in the construction of the Genesee Valley Canal. Soon afterwards property was bought at the corner of Ellicott and Batavia Streets, for a church for the English-speaking Catholics of the city. The Rev. John N. Neumann, who was afterwards Bishop of Philadelphia, and who has been proposed for canonization went to Buffalo in July, 1836, and laboured zealously for four years in the missions of the Erie County and vicinity. The missionary then had few of the comforts and conveniences of the present day and Father Neumann was often compelled to tramp many miles over rough roads, or through the forest, carrying his vestments on his back, to say Mass or to administer to the sick. The Rev. Bernard O'Reilly of Rochester, who was afterwards Bishop of Hartford, also did effective work among those engaged in building the Erie Canal and in constructing the locks at Lockport. The Rev. Thomas McEvoy of Java attended to the spiritual wants of the Catholics of three or four counties. He resided at Java, and from this place he frequently visited clusters of Catholics in Allegany, Wyoming, Steuben, and Chautauqua counties. Among the lay people Louis Le Couteulx was the greatest benefactor of the incipient church in Buffalo. He located at Buffalo in 1803, and it was at his house, corner of Main and Exchange Streets, that the Catholics were first assembled and were urged to form a congregation. Besides donating the site for the first church, he also gave the land for the Deaf Mute Institute, the Infant Asylum, the Immaculate Conception church, and the Buffalo Orphan asylum. Other lay people of that period and later prominent in church work were: Patrick Milton, Maurice Vaughn, Patrick Cannon, John Connolly, Mrs. O'Rourke, Mrs. Rowen, Mrs. Kimmit, and Messrs. Ambrose, Feldman, Fisher, Steffan, Dingens, Lautz, Paul, Diebold, Gittere, Pfohl, Wechter, Doll, Smith, Miller, Hager, Guinther, Vogt, Davis, John Straus, Gerhard Lang, and their families.

The Very Rev. John Timon, a Visitor General of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians) was consecrated first Bishop of Buffalo in the cathedral in New York, 17 October, 1847, by Bishop Hughes. The new bishop appointed the Rev. Bernard O'Reilly, pastor of St. Patrick's church, Rochester, his vicar-general, and began a retreat for his priests; then he gave missions for his people in the sixteen churches of the diocese. Many of these were plain frame structures, without architectural ornament, and many of them had no altar except a table or some rough timber fitted up for the purpose. In many cases services were held in rented buildings, especially where public works attracted large numbers of men but gave no promise of permanent settlement. Such was the case along the Erie Canal and the Genesee Valley Canal, where services were held in the largest workmen's shanty, or in the nearest town hall. Men engaged in these public works were attracted by the fertility of the soil or the advantages of localities, and sent for their families and friends, and established homes in the western part of the State along the lines of public traffic. Thus little Catholic settlements were formed, and incipient congregations were organized. The first Catholic congregations were made up of settlers from the East or immigrants from Europe.

Scarcity of Priests

The growth of the Church, before the advent of the bishop to the western part of the State, was entirely from immigration. Many were lost to the Church during this period because they had settled in remote localities, and priests were scarce. Nearly all the priests who laboured in Western New York during this period were from Europe, and some were not permanently attached to the diocese. The small number of priests could not visit regularly the many small settlements in that extensive territory, and many Catholics would not see a priest for months, or even years. Under such conditions it was but natural that some should fall away. Before there was a resident priest at Buffalo people journeyed all the way to Albany to have their children baptized, others took their children to Monroe, Michigan, where there was a resident priest. When young people decided to get married, two or three of the respectable old people of the community were called in as witnesses; troth was plighted, and the couple became man and wife, with the understanding that as soon as a priest came the blessing of the Church would be invoked upon the marriage. A journey to Albany in those days was a difficult undertaking. It meant many days travel through the forest, on horseback, by stage-coach, or rough wagons. When the Erie Canal was built, part of the journey could be made by packet boat; but as a rule people postponed the reception of the sacraments until some priest went through this region on his way to the Catholic settlements of the West, or in transit between the East and Montreal or Quebec. Priests were scarce for some years after Buffalo was made a diocese; and one of bishop Timon's first labours was directed to the establishment of colleges and seminaries for the education of youth. He induced the Oblates, the Franciscans, and the Jesuits to send communities to found colleges, and to assist in the formation of parishes. The Oblate Fathers in August, 1851, started a seminary and college in a brick building, which was located on the site of the present cathedral rectory. This institution was later transferred to Prospect Hill, on the site of the present Holy Angels church property. The Franciscans in 1855 located at Ellicottville, but shortly after moved to Allegany. The Jesuits started the present St. Michael's Church and Canisius College (1851). After the advent of Bishop Timon fallen-away Catholics began to return to the Church, and many non-Catholics embraced the Faith. His missions and his lectures in all the towns of the diocese awakened an interest in Catholic teaching and practice; and from three to five hundred new members were added to the Church each year through the conversion of non-Catholics. Much of the prejudice also, which existed in some localities, was dispelled by the diffusion of knowledge of the Church.

Bishops of the See

(1) Bishop Timon died 16 April, 1867. He was born 12 February, 1797, at Conewago, Pennsylvania, and ordained at St. Louis, Missouri, in June, 1825. For a long time he was a missionary in Texas and in April, 1840, was named Prefect Apostolic there but refused the office.

(2) The Very Rev. Stephen Vincent Ryan who, like his predecessor, was a Visitor General of the Congregation of the Mission, was appointed to succeed him as Bishop of Buffalo and was consecrated 8 November, 1868. Bishop Ryan was born 1 January, 1825, at Almonte, Ontario, Upper Canada. Distinguished for his piety, zeal, and learning, he continued the great work of Bishop Timon. He died 10 April, 1896.

(3) The Rev. James E. Quigley, D.D., his successor, was consecrated 24 February, 1897. Bishop Quigley's condemnation of the attempt of the Socialists to identify their doctrines with the principles of labour unionism, and thus wean men from their allegiance to the Church, gained for him a national reputation. He was promoted to the vacant archbishopric of Chicago, 19 February, 1903.

(4) The Rev. Charles H. Colton of New York, was next appointed to the see and consecrated in St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, 24 August, 1903.

Statistics

There are 264 priests in the diocese; 168 secular, 96 of religious orders; 142 churches with resident priests, 32 mission churches, and 16 chapels; 54 Brothers and 1,085 Sisters of religious orders, teaching 94 parochial schools, with 27,787 pupils. There is one university, Niagara, under the Lazarist Fathers; five colleges for boys with 952 students; and two seminaries for secular clergy, and one for religious, with 181 students. The seminary at Niagara is conducted by the Lazarists; that at Allegany, by the Franciscans. The preparatory seminaries are the college departments at Niagara and at Allegany, and the colleges of Canisius, Holy Angels, and the Christian Brothers. The Oblates have a seminary in Buffalo for candidates for their order, and the Passionists have one in Dunkirk for their students. There are 159 students in the large seminaries, 81 in the preparatory, and 200 students in the university. There are eight academies for young ladies, with 1,200 students. St. John's Protectory for homeless, or wayward boys, founded in 1861, accommodates about 600 boys, who are taught some trade, along with the elementary branches of education. A Deaf Mute Institute, started in Buffalo in 1856, is now an important institution, under the charge of the Sisters of St. Joseph, with 166 pupils. In 1861 Bishop Timon secured the sisters of St. Francis to care for the aged; these sisters now have three houses: one in Buffalo, one in Gardenville and one in Williamsville, with 600 inmates. The Sisters of the Good Shepherd in 1855 started a refuge for wayward girls and fallen women. They care for 150 inmates and 75 children. In 1888 the Rev. Daniel Walsh established the Working Boys Home, in which 80 boys and young men now find a comfortable home. In 1906 Bishop Colton established the St. Charles's Home for Working Girls, under the Sisters of Mercy. Bishop Quigley founded two mission houses for poor children, the Angel Guardian Mission and the St. James's Mission. In June, 1848, Bishop Timon secured a community of Sisters of Charity and placed them in the orphan asylum, which now has 250 orphans, and a large number of young girls employed in a technical school. There is a German orphan asylum in Buffalo, incorporated in 1874, in which there are 370 orphans, under the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. The Polish orphan asylum at Doyle, under the care of the Felician Sisters of St. Francis, has 186 inmates. The Sisters of St. Joseph have the Orphan Asylum at Dunkirk with 88 orphans; and the Sisters of Charity direct an infant asylum in Buffalo, where 185 infant children can be accommodated, with 60 patients in the maternity hospital. The Sisters of Charity hospital accommodates 250 patients. Their emergency hospital treats 1,200 patients a year. The sisters of Mercy at the Mercy Hospital accommodate about 40 patients. Estimated Catholic population 200,000.

BAYLEY, History of the Church in New York (New York, 1870); TIMON, Missions in Western New York (Buffalo, 1862); DONOHUE, History of the Catholic Church in Western New York (Buffalo, 1904); ID., The Iroquois and the Jesuits (Buffalo, 1985); Relations des Jésuites (Quebec, 1858); MARGRY, Découvertes (Paris, 1893); HENNEPIN, Nouvelle Découverte (Utrecht, 1678); CRONIN, Life and Times of Bishop Ryan (Buffalo, 1893); The Historical Writings of the late Orsamus H. Marshall (Albany, 1887); The Sentinel, files (Buffalo); Maps by GENERAL JAMES CLARKE (Auburn); Bishop Timon's diary and unpublished letters.

External links

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo Official Site

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