Christ the King Priest Says Buffalo Diocese Should Have Handled Closing News Differently

By Danielle Church
WGRZ
February 12, 2020

https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/special-reports/diocese-in-crisis/christ-the-king-priest-says-buffalo-diocese-should-have-handled-closing-news-differently/71-eb00de43-e894-4ea1-a505-a8fe172ea840

The staff was told last Tuesday at a meeting that it would ceasing operations in May.

East Aurora NY - Last week the seminarians and staff at Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora found out it'll be closing in May, after operating there for more than 45 years.

The Buffalo Diocese says the plan to cease operations was approved by the seminary's board of trustees and the five governing members of the corporation.

It means 30 staff members and seminarians will be without a job.

One of them is Rev. John Mack who says the news was "devastating" to everyone, especially because they had no idea it was coming.

"A staff of folks who included people who had been in the seminary for long terms were somehow dumbfounded because they had never been consulted, they had never been involved in the decision," Mack said.

A spokesperson for the Diocese says that's not true saying "contrary to implication, the Seminary community was the first to learn of this decision, prior to communicating to the media or the broader public."