Our Lady of Victory Homes of Charity got a big boost recently in its ongoing capital campaign. The Lackawanna-based organization received its largest-ever private donation. Some of that money has been set aside to continue the push for Father Nelson Baker's sainthood.
That ongoing drive, known as Our Lady of Victory's Campaign for Father Baker's Continuing His Legacy of Caring, has a $12 million goal and continues through the end of this year. At last word, the campaign raised just over $11 million, aided by the largest-ever private donation to the organization.
That was a $2.25 million gift announced in late June from the Adams family, described by OLV officials as a family of devout Catholics who fulfilled a promise to give if they had the means to do so.
Therese Scofidio, executive director of Baker Victory Services, explained the campaign following a ceremony Tuesday to dedicate the new Moore For Kids Family Home on the Lackawanna campus.
"It's going for a diverse number of things to support all our capital work," she said. "We're doing work on all of our other homes to upgrade them. We're doing work on the cause for canonization. We're doing work on general infrastructure to make sure we continue years into the future."
The cause for canonization began years ago and is still active. Monsignor Paul Burkhard, president of Our Lady of Victory Institutions, said the money set aside from their capital campaign will help pay for travel expenses, print materials and wages for those currently taking on Father Baker's case at the Vatican.
"There's no doubt Father Baker will eventually be canonized," Monsignor Burkhard said. "The Church takes its time. It's an incredibly long and involved process. But the Church moves ahead and moves slowly and that's what has happened to Father Baker's cause right now. They're vetting a miracle we have in front of them and they're doing it very thoroughly."
Pope Benedict XVI declared Father Baker "Venerable" in 2011, two steps below sainthood. For local Catholics, hopes are raised that Father Baker will reach sainthood within their lifetimes, especially with the canonizations of two well-known individuals in recent years. Pope John Paul died in 2005 and became a saint nine years later. Mother Theresa of Calcutta was canonized in September 2016, 19 years after her passing.
He was known as the "Padre of the Poor." A bridge along Route 5 is named in his honor. Many older Western New Yorkers still recall childhood memories of parents threatening to "send them to Father Baker" if they didn't improve their behavior. Whether one is faithful or spiritually skeptical, there is no denying Father Baker's impact on Lackawanna and Western New York in his lifetime and beyond it.
OLV officials would like to see Father Baker achieve sainthood to help celebrate his continuing mission.
"We support his cause for canonization because that's who he is. He believes in caring for people," Scofidio said. "We as an agency, it's over 160 years old. That's what we do. We care for people like he did. He looked to the community and said 'what do you need?' The community knows that he's there to help and we, as his stewards, are there to help them in need."
