Save Our Buffalo Churches is pursuing a new path to keep local parishes from closing, and members of the group say it would also significantly benefit any of the sexual abuse victims suing the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.
A coalition of people impacted by recent Catholic Church financial decisions across New York is coming together to seek funding from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation. They’re asking for the use of up to one billion dollars to address various needs.
Funds locally would be used to immediately settle the money owed to clergy sexual abuse victims and provide compensation to local parishes that already had funds extracted by the diocese, Save Our Buffalo Churches member Mary Pruski said.
Some victims already have called her about the matter, Pruski said.
“They feel horrible that the parishes are being made to go bankrupt or just have all their on-hand funds go to about zero," she said. "They don't want the parishes to suffer and cause more pain and people leaving the church. They just want the diocese who covered this up for so many years to have to pay.”
The foundation’s money comes from a one-time grant of $3.2 billion from the 2018 sale of Fidelis Care.
The current proposal would seek help for survivors of childhood sexual abuse around New York State, and also for pensioners of a Catholic hospital in Albany who have not received their full retirement compensation.
Catholic Diocese of Buffalo said in an official statement that, “The Diocese does not have a view on the recourse being pursued by Save our Buffalo Churches in this matter. Naturally, they are entitled to explore whatever options they feel support their objectives.”
The sale of Fidelis Care originally was approved by state lawmakers and established the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation as a "charitable foundation organized under the New York Not-for-Profit Corporation Law," according to the foundation website, "dedicated to improving the health and well-being of New York’s poor, disadvantaged and under-served, and eliminating health disparities."
That is why Pruski and others hope to garner support from state legislators, to gain approval for releasing funds.
"We just need someone to help us carry the message, and all three of our major nodes, New York City, Albany and myself here in Buffalo, will speak to it,"she said. "It's just a matter of having that sponsor."
