Father Robert Marino ordained to the priesthood

St. Joseph Cathedral in downtown Buffalo was the setting Saturday, Nov. 15 as Bishop Edward U. Kmiec ordained Father Robert Marino.

Ordained a transitional deacon in April, the Camden , N.J. native worked as a design consultant for 14 years before entering the seminary.  He attended St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach , FL , and Christ the King Seminary, East Aurora , where he earned a master’s degree in divinity. 

During his years as a seminary student, Father Marino participated in field education assignments, summer ministry and a pastoral year assignment.  His field education positions were at Millard Fillmore Hospital in Buffalo and with VOICE Buffalo .  In 2006, Father Marino completed his summer ministry at St. Joseph Parish in North Tonawanda .  In 2007-2008, he fulfilled his pastoral year assignment at St. Christopher Parish in Tonawanda .

Father Marino’s first assignment will be at St. Gabriel Parish in Elma.

Diocese celebrates “Year of St. Paul ”

Bishop Edward U. Kmiec blesses an image of St. Paul during a special Mass on Sunday, Nov. 16 at St. Paul Church in Kenmore . 

In June, Pope Benedict XVI called for a jubilee year to commemorate the bimillennium of the birth of the Apostle Paul.  The Holy Father’s goal is to raise awareness of St. Paul , the Apostle of the Gentiles, who feared “neither risk, difficulty, nor persecution in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus.”  

Bishop Edward U. Kmiec, bishop of Buffalo, has received a series of recommendations addressing the financial governance of parishes, the present diocesan financial policies and procedure manual for parish business practices, expanding training programs for priests and parish lay personnel and establishing a process to monitor financial controls at the parish level.

The report noted that the bishop, who serves as president of each parish corporation, “must continue to set the proper tone at the top and lead the way through effective oversight to ensure that parish leadership fulfill its responsibilities. Those in positions of responsibility must be accountable for compliance with all best practices, and understand that abdication of those responsibilities will not be tolerated.”  (Read complete story)

Meeting in Baltimore for their General Assembly, the U.S. bishops approved the Order for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb for use in the dioceses of the United States. The bishops also approved a Spanish version of the blessing.

The Blessing of a Child in the Womb was prepared by the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities after receiving requests from dioceses for such a blessing and not finding an existing blessing for a newly conceived child. In March, 2008 a blessing was prepared and submitted to the Committee on Divine Worship. The proposed blessing is distinct from the Blessing of Parents before Childbirth found in the Book of Blessings.

As the Catholic bishops of the United States gather in Baltimore, and as servants of Jesus our hope, we bring with us our concern for people in our dioceses, and we want to express our active support and solidarity with all those who are being hurt by the current economic crisis. As pastors and bishops, we see the many human and moral consequences of this crisis. Clearly, the impact is greater in some regions than others. However, across our nation families are losing their homes; retirement savings are threatened; workers are losing jobs and health care; and many people are losing a sense of hope and security.

This disturbing and complicated situation brings home a universal truth: we are all children of God. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. We are all in this together. Hard times can isolate us or they can bring us together. The Catholic community will continue to reach out to those in need, stand with those who are hurt, and work for policies that bring greater compassion, accountability and justice to economic life.

Pope Benedict XVI has outlined our goals in his 2008 World Day of Peace message: “The family needs to have a home, employment, and a just recognition of the domestic activity of parents, the possibility of schooling for children, and basic health care for all.” The pope also insists that society and public policy should be “committed to assisting the family in these areas.”

We offer our prayers for the families and individuals, our sisters and brothers, who are hurting, anxious or discouraged in these difficult times. We also pledge our prayers for our wounded nation and suffering world. We pray that, working together, we can find the courage, wisdom and ways to build an economy of prosperity and greater justice for all.

The Vatican Congregation for the Clergy has backed the decision by Bishop Edward U. Kmiec to change the status of Transfiguration Parish in Olean. As part of the diocesan reconfiguration process known as the Journey in Faith and Grace, Bishop Kmiec announced in June 2007 that Transfiguration would become an oratory of nearby St. John Parish in Olean.

Parishioners appealed the decision to the Vatican, seeking to have Transfiguration continue as a parish. In a letter to Bishop Kmiec and the petitioners, Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, wrote the “petition for recourse as presented has no canonical basis in law and in fact and is hereby rejected.”

An oratory is a sacred place that exists for the convenience of some community or group of the faithful. An oratory does not have regularly scheduled liturgical services, and the liturgical functions that can be celebrated there are determined by the local bishop. A neighboring parish, in this case St. John Parish, would be responsible for the Transfiguration Oratory

Pope Benedict XVI sent a personal message to President-elect Barack Obama Nov. 5, congratulating him and offering his prayers for Obama and for all the people of the United States.  

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said that because the message was addressed personally to Obama, the Vatican did not plan to publish it. However, he said, the papal message opened by referring to the "historic occasion" of the election, marking the first time a black man has been elected president of the United States.

The pope congratulated Obama, his wife and family, Father Lombardi said. "He assured him of his prayers that God would help him with his high responsibilities for his country and for the international community," Father Lombardi said. Asked if the pope mentioned any specific issues he was concerned about, Father Lombardi responded, "peace, solidarity and justice."

The pope also prayed that "the blessing of God would sustain him and the American people so that with all people of good will they could build a world of peace, solidarity and justice," the spokesman said.

The message to Obama was sent through the office of Mary Ann Glendon, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, he said. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, also sent a message.

Father Lombardi said it is likely a formal message also will be sent on the occasion of Obama's Jan. 20 inauguration; in past years, the Vatican custom has been that the pope congratulates a new U.S. president only when he formally takes office.

The U.S. bishops congratulated President-elect Barack Obama, the first African-American elected President of the United States, and called the event “historic” and coming at a difficult time.

“Our country is confronting many uncertainties,” the bishops said. “We pray that you will use the powers of your office to meet them with a special concern to defend the most vulnerable among us and heal the divisions in our country and our world. We stand ready to work with you in defense and support of the life and dignity of every human person.”

They bishops offered their remarks in a November 4 letter to President-elect Obama from Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

A survey crew from Gewalt Hamilton Associates of Illinois conducts a computer scan of the interior of St. Gerard Church at Bailey and Delavan in Buffalo. The three dimensional scan will allow architects to draft blueprints for the unique project that would see the Romanesque basilica style church dismantled, stone by stone, shipped to Norcross, Georgia, and rebuilt as Mary Our Queen Church.

Father David Dye, pastor of the suburban Atlanta parish, said, "For us to partner with Buffalo and to see a church that was given to the glory of God, it's a wonderful thing for the Church to have that continuity. When I was a kid, we didn’t have that sense of majesty of the Church. But this is a church that can’t be used anymore, so they’re passing it along to us. That’s very powerful."

Bishop Edward U. Kmiec said he is very much in support of the "preservation by relocation" of St. Gerard’s. The church closed in January of this year, merging into Blessed Trinity Parish in Buffalo.

Longtime St. Gerard parishioner Dorothy Eckl, who attended Mass at the church for 72 of its 105 year existence, said she thinks moving the church building to Georgia for continued use as a Catholic church is fabulous. "When I heard this news, it was the answer to my prayers. It’s great that our legacy will live on in Georgia."

If the project moves ahead, construction experts estimate it will take about a year to dismantle the church and ship it 886 miles to Norcross. Plans call for the altars, pews, confessionals, marble columns, stained glass windows, interior and exterior doors, exterior stones and steel roof beams to be disassembled, packed and shipped south, and reassembled at Mary Our Queen Parish.

Bishop Edward U. Kmiec is joined by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and Catholic Health CEO Joe McDonald during groundbreaking ceremonies for a new emergency room that will be constructed at South Buffalo Mercy Hospital.

Noting that Mercy’s ER is the busiest in the region, McDonald noted that Mercy Hospital is responding to a critical community need for expanded emergency services.

The $32 million construction project will result in a 46,000 square-foot addition to the front of the hospital. When completed, the state-of-the-art ER facility will feature 34 private treatment rooms, including three airborne isolation rooms, and two cardiac/trauma resuscitation rooms. In addition, there will be expanded space for physician staff, nursing, and support services.

The new ER at Mercy is the second major Emergency Department construction project and largest undertaking of its kind for Catholic Health. In 2005, Catholic Health opened a new Emergency Department at St. Joseph Hospital in Cheektowaga. The project, which will not disrupt current ER services, is expected to be completed in the spring of 2010, and the new ER addition is projected to be occupied by December 2009.

Bishop Edward U. Kmiec, bishop of Buffalo, led parishioners and friends of St. Mary’s Church in Swormville in a groundbreaking ceremony for a new church that will be home to one of the largest parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo.

The event began with a prayer service in the present church, followed by a procession to the new church site. A crucifix dating back to 1866 was carried from the current church to the spot where it will be placed in the commons/vestibule of the new church.

Joining Bishop Kmiec were Father Robert M. Yetter, pastor of St. Mary’s,

Father Robert W. Zilliox, St. Mary’s parochial vicar, Deacon Paul L. Snyder III, Amherst Town Supervisor Dr. Satish Mohan and Scott Bylewski, Clarence Town Supervisor.

“The time has come to build a new church here in Swormville, to continue the mission and vision of St. John Neumann and his successors: the diocesan and religious order priests, the Sisters of St. Francis of Williamsville and other women religious, and the lay faithful who have worked so hard to build the Kingdom of God here along Transit Road,” Bishop Kmiec said. “Today we break ground for a church that will help to better serve the more than 2,400 families that comprise this wonderful faith community. While we look to the future with a new church, I am pleased that St. Mary's will honor its heritage by continuing to use the current church for daily Mass and other special occasions.”  (Read story)

The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, established on April 23, 1847, comprises the westernmost counties of New York State, which include: Erie, Niagara, Genesee, Orleans, Chautauqua, Wyoming, Cattaraugus and Allegany. The Diocese covers 6,455 square miles and has a Catholic population of  702,884.