Published: February 17, 2008 01:08 am      

HOLY TRINITY: Diocese offers ‘blessing’

Diocese offers cautious support for church designation

The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo reluctantly offered its blessing Saturday for a plan to bestow local landmark status upon Holy Trinity Catholic Church.

In a letter to the Historic Preservation Commission of Niagara Falls, Monsignor David Slubecky, vicar general of the diocese, said the diocese “will respect and reluctantly accept” the decision of the commission and the City of Niagara Falls to designate the Falls Street church a landmark.

Slubecky also cautioned that the diocese still believes the distinction is not in the best interest of the new Divine Mercy Parish, which he said can “ill afford” the costs associated with it.

“Our concern has always been and continues to be that the high cost of meeting landmark guidelines will place an additional, undue financial burden on the new Divine Mercy Parish that will responsible for Holy Trinity property,” Slubecky said a statement released Saturday. “As we stated last October when the reconfiguration of Niagara Falls parishes was announced, the disposition of any unneeded buildings and property will be left to the discretion of the new parish.”

Holy Trinity was among a handful of closings announced in October by the diocese to answer dwindling population and fewer priests. The diocese announced Oct. 14 its plan to merge Holy Trinity with St. Stanislaus Kostka, St. George, Our Lady of the Rosary and Our Lady of Lebanon. The new faith community, as it is called by the diocese, is to be known as Divine Mercy Parish and will be located on the St. Stanislaus property at 2437 Niagara St.

The last Mass at Holy Trinity is scheduled for March, but parishioners are fighting to keep the church and four other buildings on the campus intact for many years to come. Last month, the Historic Preservation Commission received a detailed application from the group that outlined the church’s rich history.

“Perhaps the diocese is realizing that this is what the people want,” said Commission Chairman Thomas Yots in response to the diocese’s statement.

Yots welcomed the support of the diocese and noted the intention of gaining landmark status for the church was intended to help, not hurt, the parish both historically and financially. Yots said achieving local landmark status would bring the church a step closer to qualifying for various state and federal historic preservation incentives, including grant funding or tax credits available for restoration projects involving historic structures.

“What we are doing is helping them to get the money to help save these buildings,” he said.

The commission will hold a public hearing on the application for local landmark status Wednesday. The commission is expected to vote in support of the action following the hearing. The request would then be forwarded to the City Council for final approval. Council Chairman Sam Fruscione already has publicly pledged the council’s full support on the issue.