Buffalo Diocese (N.Y.) officials, citing a sharp decline in donations and an estimated $4 million per year in bankruptcy costs, are pleading with a federal judge to speed up its reorganization by reducing the time childhood sex abuse victims can file claims and appointing a mediator to negotiate a settlement, the Buffalo News reported. Diocese officials told Chief Judge Carl L. Bucki that the diocese is strapped for cash and no longer provides financial support for 19 programs and ministries, including outreach to youth and migrants, lifelong faith formation, evangelization efforts and aid to Catholic elementary schools. The diocese discontinued tuition subsidies for 34 Catholic schools, which in the past have received as much as $4 million from the diocese, Sister Mary McCarrick, diocese chief operating officer, wrote in a letter to Bucki. McCarrick said some schools “are in a very real danger of closing” because of the loss of diocese funding. Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger last month appointed a task force to study consolidations of churches and schools. The diocese also has reduced spending for campus ministry, its outreach to deaf people, its Office of Worship and support for priest retirement homes, among other programs, according to court papers.
