St. Francis de Sales RC Church, 585 Humboldt Pkwy, Buffalo, NY photo

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11-22-03	Karl R. Josker

St. Francis de Sales RC Church, 585 Humboldt Pkwy, Buffalo, NY

Everything that wasn't nailed down is gone; and everything that was is gone too. What's left is the floor, walls, and roof. I now know what plundered and pillaged means. What remains still possesses a sense of strength, quality, and dignity. Completed in 1928, closed in 1993, abused since then. A religious group is attempting to stop the deterioration, and is daringly dreaming of restoration.

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Š2008 by Karl R. Josker

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Ray Ball		26-Dec-2008 18:28
I'd like to think that if only the RC Church would return to their original stance of allowing married priests, or even better, wake up to the fact that woman are human beings too and should therefore be allowed to be priests, then their churches might stand a chance of being saved. But, alas, even mainline protestant churches in the cities are falling on the hardest of times and closing their doors. The ironic fact is that these monumental buildings are crushing the life out of the congregations. They are unsustainable without substantial and continuous investments, not unlike the entire infrastructure of the country in general. Once the babyboomer generation of male priests retires, there will be next to NO priests at all, and more of the few remaining churches will perish as a result. Life as we knew it will never be passed on to succeeding generations. St. Francis de Sales as you see it here is the future of churches all over the city of Buffalo. Mr. Josker's galleries serve as a magnificent photographic obituary page for our children and grandchildren to ponder as civilization crumbles around them.

shariys		24-Dec-2008 02:25
Please don't let this become another Transfiguration ...

Guest		03-Mar-2008 23:22
I am a member of an organization that is starting a religious art center at St. Ann's. Please pass the word and try to save whatever is left in these churches. I will not say what I think about the diocese. The words are not charitable. Our legacy is slipping away just like the Central Terminal. The building liquidators and the antique dealers are drooling.

stephen		12-Sep-2007 23:45
I went to the grade school that was next door and had my First Communion here in the mid 60's

Francis		19-Jan-2004 14:17
What a shame that the Diocese of Buffalo does not appreciate the gems they have/had. With dynamic clergy who are more than curators or confecting agents of the sacraments, these once vibrant churches could again be the source and summit of Eucharistic fervor. Congregartions dwindle when they are no longer fed. One need only look at Protestant congregations to see that people will drive many miles to be fed spiritually. It is a shame that the Catholic church of Buffalo fails to see this trend as something to be reckoned with. Churches such as this or the beautiful Trasfiguration only needed dynamic leadership to fill the pews. Does it follow that there are no more dynamic priests in Buffalo except the ones that already are proving this point in their respective churches?