The new Families of Parishes model will bring with it a new role for priests and laity serving in the Diocese of Buffalo. Currently, the diocese is seeking applications for pastors who will lead the 36 Families of Parishes. Currently, the diocese has 161 parishes.

The application to become a pastor of a Family can be found in the Clergy Portal at roadtorenewal.org. The fillable PDF can be submitted to PriestPersonnelOffice@buffalodiocese.org. Applications should be turned into the Priest Personnel Office by Monday, May 23 at noon. The priests that apply for a family will be interviewed by the Priest Personnel Office. This follows current procedures for naming a pastor.

Once pastors are assigned to a Family, the application process for parochial vicars and specialized parochial vicars will begin. Families will be posted with their respective pastor, so parochial vicars will know with whom they will be working.

The number of parochial vicars serving each family will vary. “Several factors were used to determine the number of priests per family – number of Catholics per priest, mileage expected to cover, and there were some specialized families with particular ministries,” explained Father Bryan Zielenieski, vicar for Renewal and Development.

Specialized parochial vicars who have a specific area of responsibility, such as the Catholic School in the family or the faith formation program, will also be named.

t is important to note that filling the role of pastor in the pilot Families is a top priority, so the pastors of those families will be announced first.

A very important note for all applying as a pastor of a Family is that the priestly compensation scale is currently under review. It has been recognized that with the expectations of a pastor in a Family, there needs to be fair compensation. The dialogue on this is currently underway and the Priestly Life Committee of the Renewal is working on this in conjunction with the vicar general and a recommendation will be made to the Temporalities Committee of the Presbyteral Council. The term for a pastor will be six years.

Priests can access data on each Family in the Families of Parishes Playbook found in the Clergy Portal. All information presented reflects the information submitted by parishes in a recent request. The Renewal Team has found that historical data on file with the diocese since Covid is not reliable or accurate. Some parishes do not have Mass times listed in the profile. It is recommended that for specific Mass times of parishes that you look at parish websites. It is important to note that in the Renewal, Mass times will be changing. Sacramental, financial and the other data provided is more important at this time.

Phase one of the Families of Parishes will begin this October.

Led by Sister Joanne Suranni, CSSF, and coordinated by Theodore Musco, the event saw the training committee come together in prayer, much like the Families of Parishes will do when they participate in the Life in the Eucharist Program. The six pilot families will be given a training session at the end of May to learn how to implement Living the Eucharist into their parishes.

“Life in the Eucharist: Sacramental Reflections” is a five-session program that presents five specific themes framed in the categories of Celebration, Contemplation and Communion with the Suffering. Topics include God’s Love as nourishment in Jesus Christ; God’s love as Reconciliation in Jesus Christ; God’s love as Transformation in Jesus Christ; God’s love as Abiding Presence in Jesus Christ; God’s love as Mission in Jesus Christ. Meetings will take place on campus in the church or parish hall and are meant to create a bond among members of the new parish families through prayer.

Each family is required to participate in the Living the Eucharist program and a service project.

“It’s really to get them to come together; to bring the parishes together to unite under a common theme,” explained Musco, director of Renewal Mission, Evangelization, and Lay Formation. “We chose Life in the Eucharist because here in the United States we’re going to have the National Eucharist Revival starting at the Feast of Corpus Christi. So, it really fits in nicely.”

Over three years, every Catholic diocese, parish, school, apostolate, and family is invited to be a part of renewing the Church by enkindling a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

This Revival launches on the Feast of Corpus Christi, June 19. Over the next three years, dioceses will host Eucharistic Congresses and processions. Parishes will increase or begin Eucharistic Adoration. There will be a revival of faithful adherence to the liturgical norms in all their richness – the ars celebrandi. Families and friends will gather in small groups to learn and pray together. Missionary disciples will go to the margins, recognizing the mystery of Jesus’ presence in the poor.

All of this will culminate in the first National Eucharistic Congress in the United States in almost 50 years held July 17-21, 2024.