A test of faith for beleaguered priest who needs a liver transplant

By Scott Scanlon
Buffalo News
April 11, 2020

https://buffalonews.com/2020/04/11/a-test-of-faith-for-beleaguered-priest-who-needs-a-liver-transplant/

Father John Mack Jr. prefers a certain kind of donor for the liver transplant he needs.

“Somebody who has prayed every day and never drank a drop liquor.”

He also hopes for a living donor, someone willing to give part of a liver that will grow to full size in weeks.

Yet Mack, a man of devout faith, is under no illusions.

Circumstances in just the past few weeks explain why.

The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, in which he has served for 35 years, filed for bankruptcy protection in late February to lighten the financial burden of a priest sex abuse scandal.

Diocesan leaders also announced they will close Christ the King Seminary, where Mack lives and works as chairman of the East Aurora school's pastoral theology department.