Hello, just want to pass on this sad news about Hungarian church closing in Buffalo Area Laszlo (Les) Josa http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060502/1038742.asp Retirement of priests to close Lackawanna Catholic church -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hungarian-based parish dwindles to 20 families By JAY TOKASZ News Religion Reporter 5/2/2006 Click to view larger picture Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Lackawanna will close Sunday. A Catholic church established in Lackawanna in 1918 will celebrate its final Mass on Sunday. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church at 80 Steelawanna Ave. will close because of the retirement of two Piarist priests. The congregation had dwindled to 20 families, with only a dozen people attending Mass on Sundays, said the Rev. Kalman Miskolczy, pastor since 1993. The church building also needs extensive repairs, he said. Miskolczy is 85 and the Rev. Nicholas V. Fodor, associate pastor, is 81. Both are retiring and will be transferred to the Piarist headquarters in Devon, Pa. "It causes me heartache, but at our age and the lack of the people" made closing the church necessary, Miskolczy said. "Most of [the parishioners] understand. There are some who said two or three years ago, "Father, there's no reason; close the church,' " Miskolczy said. The closing is not part of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo's strategic planning effort, which started last summer and still is under way. But at its March meeting, the diocesan strategic planning commission reviewed the recommendation to close. The church, established for Hungarian immigrants, remained one of two in the diocese that still offered a Sunday Mass in Hungarian. The other is St. Elizabeth Church at 986 Grant St. in Buffalo. The closing Mass will be celebrated in English by Auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Grosz. It will include hymns and readings in Hungarian, Miskolczy said. Diocesan officials haven't determined what to do with the humble white clapboard church and attached rectory. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church has a colorful history. It started with about 75 families who had been attending St. Charles Church, which was later renamed Queen of All Saints and closed in 1998. Father Nelson Baker, Buffalo's candidate for sainthood, consecrated the new church in 1918. Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty of Hungary twice visited the parish. In the early 1950s, when the church had 270 registered families, it added Masses in Spanish. Lester Vilagy of Lackawanna, a parish trustee, said he probably would end up worshipping in nearby St. Hyacinth Church on Ridge Road. "It's going to be a sad day, there's no doubt about that," said Vilagy, 82, who has been a member of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church since his childhood. "We tried, but to no avail. Most of the people are elderly, and they're on a fixed income." The final parish Mass will be celebrated at 4 p.m. A farewell dinner will follow in the Hungarian American Social Club, 660 Tonawanda St. e-mail: jtokasz@buffnews.com

Thank you Les. It is sad to see any church closing but especially sad when an ethnic parish has to close. Long gone are the days.... Elizabeth V. Cardinal evc1369@comcast.net