By Eileen Buckley
Buffalo, NY – There is a reprieve for a Buffalo church that was slated to close at the end of the year. Corpus Christi Church in the City's Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood will remain opened.
The Pauline Fathers and Brothers have agreed to take over the parish on Clark Street from the Franciscan Friars.
Bishop Henry Mansell said Wednesday the Pauline Fathers will assume responsibility and purchase the property and land from the Franciscan Order for one dollar.
The Bishop said it is a "new dawn" for Corpus Christi parish.
"And I appeal to all to help because there is going to be a great need for help here at Corpus Christi," said Mansell. "The Pauline Fathers will be most welcome and there is nothing but bright days and a happy future ahead for Corpus Christi parish."
Earlier this year the Franciscans Friars announced that they were no longer able to staff the church.
But at the request of the Bishop, they held off on closing the church until the end of the year to see if another Order could operate the parish.
The Franciscans' service at Corpus Christi dates back to 1898. But now two Pauline priests and two brothers will take over.
Father Anslem Chalupka will become the new pastor of Corpus Christi. He said he is ready for the challenge.
"It wasn't my will to come into the United States. But my general told me to go. So I talk to my provisional father and I said okay<' said Chalupka. "Sometimes if you think about things in your life saying oh, I am afraid to so something, well we don't think about that."
The Pauline Order was founded in the first half of the 13th century in Hungary. Later a monastery was established in Poland. In the United States, the Order is based in Pennsylvania.