I had two purposes yesterday when I stopped at at Saint Ann’s Church and Shrine on Broadway yesterday. One, to take some photos of it. Two, to put up a tape sign on the fence surrounding the front of church. The latter I do periodically to have a visual reminder for passersby on Broadway that Saint Ann’s needs to be saved. The sign usually lasts a week until someone from the Buffalo Diocese takes it down.
While taking photos, I stumbled upon the church’s outdoor Nativity Scene sitting tucked away adjacent to the church. Since the church building closed in 2012, I am guessing it was last used for Christmas 2011. Seeing it made me well up with emotion. The reality of how long Saint Ann’s has been sitting in limbo struck me hard. Supporters of Saint Ann’s won an appeal with the Vatican in 2014 to keep the church open as a house of worship, but the Buffalo Diocese kept the church and has filed its own appeal to reverse the 2014 decision. Like I said, the church sits in limbo. It would be awful if the city lost this incredible historic church.
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