BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News
February 4, 2020
By Jay Tokasz
Christ the King Seminary, which for 163 years trained men to become Catholic priests, will be shut down in May at the end of the current academic year, as the Buffalo Diocese slashes costs amid a clergy sex abuse scandal that’s led to a dramatic downturn in giving.
The Rev. Kevin Creagh, seminary rector and president, announced the decision on campus this afternoon to faculty, staff and students, following votes of the board of trustees and members of the seminary corporation.
Creagh cited diocesan financial constraints and “uncertainties surrounding future vocations” in explaining the closure.
“This is very difficult for us. It’s a very sad and disappointing moment in our history. It’s the end of an era,” he said.
Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, chairman of the seminary board of trustees, said the seminary has been operating for the past decade with average annual deficits of $500,000 and was no longer sustainable.
“The bottom line is the task of the seminary, which is primarily academic, is something that cannot be sustained given the resources that we have right now,” he said. “We can’t continue to operate at a deficit budget.”
The announcement followed a fiscal year 2019 in which the diocese suffered $5 million in operating losses, due primarily to a steep decline in donations from parishioners who have been stunned and angered by the diocese’s handling of clergy sex abuse allegations.
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