Parishioners and friends of St. Adalbert Basilica gathered on the steps of the church today to announce confirmation of their Basilica status. We have called this press conference for several reasons. As you know, St. Adalbert’s has been in the news quite often and our Diocese of Buffalo has issued statements that we were not a Basilica. We petitioned the Bishop to find this answer for us. Our parish council and research team have also been in search of an answer to that question.
On June 20, 2007 our parish council again asked Bishop Kmiec to help us. On June 26, 2007 Bishop Kmiec wrote “I am in receipt of your letter of June 20 regarding St. Adalbert Parish and the question of basilica status. I regret that you do not accept the research done by the diocese on this question. The diocese does not intend to pursue the issue further since we are satisfied with the research that has been done” We would like to mention that the research that was done came from Sr. Regina Murphy and the Diocese of Buffalo Office of Research and Planning on 2/10/1992.
Unlike the Diocese, we were not satisfied and continued to pursue this issue. This week we received our answer:
In a letter written to Bishop Kmiec dated March 26, 2008 His Emminence Francis Cardinal Arinze from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments wrote to say that “The Congregation received letters from some people in the pastoral area of St. Adalbert in Buffalo in which we are asked if we can trace in our office some documentation on this church being a Basilica. I think it best to write to Your Excellency and copy the people of St. Adalbert’s to say what information we have.
We have indeed a record in our Congregation that St. Adalbert’s church, Buffalo, NY was given Brief as Basilica by Pope St. Pius X on 11th August 1907. We do not have documents on this matter in our office. In those years it was the Holy Father, and not our Congregation, which granted the Basilica document. If anyone perseveres in looking for such a document, the person could have recourse to the Secretariat of State, Vatican City.”
Simply stated: We are a basilica.
Needless to say, we are disappointed that Bishop Kmiec on June 26, 2007 chose to believe the research that was given him by Sr. Regina Murphy and the Office for Research and Planning. Our persistence took over a year to finally get an answer. This same Office is responsible for presenting research used to merge and close parishes throughout the Diocese of Buffalo. We are not satisfied with information they present as facts or their interpretation of this information. This weekend, our Pastor of St. Adalbert’s Basilica will read a Decree from Edward U. Kmiec, Bishop of Buffalo at Mass. It will state that our Bishop will continue to merge St. Adalbert’s with St. John Kanty Parish. The decree will be effective as of September 1, 2008.
We call upon Bishop Kmiec to recognize St. Adalbert’s status as a Basilica. This fact is important and cannot be ignored by the Bishop or the committee in charge of diocesan restructuring. The spiritual patrimony of our Basilica and our Patron, Saint Adalbert, must not be disregarded. The Bishop is required to continue this very special significance of Basilica status. This title puts our church in a special category protected by canon law. St. Adalbert Basilica is the oldest Basilica on the East coast. He should guarantee the continuation of such a special place of spiritual aid to the Diocese, to the people of Buffalo and to the church of the United States of America. As a juridic person, as the source of spiritual favor in our diocese, the building of the Basilica of St. Adalbert’s should be considered as one of the buildings that must remain in use as a vital worship site.
The Bishop should consider it his role to promote such a wonderful official site of special prayer and blessing that was given its special function by the Pope himself. Pope Pius X gave this very special priviledge to the parishioners of St. Adalbert’s. Our Basilica has a higher status than St. John Kanty church that the Bishop wants us to merge into and a higher status than St. Stanislaus, Bishop & Martyr church.
Our appeal continues. As the parishioners of St. Adalbert Basilica, having received the true decree concerning the Bishop’s continuation of his plan to close the Basilica, we have now begun the Administrative Recourse Process at the Congregation of the Clergy in Rome. The Basilica of St. Adalbert has a special place as a perpetual presence in the the Diocese of Buffalo. Our parish has a plan for the future. We believe in miracles.
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