Bishop Fisher Meets with Pope Leo XIV to Address Buffalo Diocese's Bankruptcy and Parish Restructuring

Bishop Michael Fisher recently returned from a visit to the Vatican, where he met with Pope Leo XIV and other high-ranking officials to discuss the Diocese of Buffalo's ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and the extensive plan to restructure local parishes.

During his time in Rome, Bishop Fisher addressed two pressing issues: the Chapter 11 bankruptcy initiated in 2020 in response to numerous sexual abuse lawsuits, and the "Road to Renewal" initiative, which aims to merge or close approximately half of the parishes across Western New York.

"It's essential for us to emerge and to be hopefully moving forward with a sense of hope with the people," Bishop Fisher stated. "We've got a lot of things going on: the restructuring of the diocese as well as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but the Road to Renewal is about us trying to look at what resources we have and to move together as a people of faith."

In September 2024, the diocese announced plans to reduce its 160 parishes to 79, with an additional 39 secondary worship sites, citing factors such as a shortage of priests, declining Mass attendance, and financial pressures from the bankruptcy. This decision has led to appeals from several parishes to the Vatican's Dicastery for the Clergy, resulting in temporary suspensions of some mergers while under review.

When questioned about the Vatican's response to these appeals, Bishop Fisher emphasized the focus on process during his meetings. "We dealt with basically looking at the process and how we're moving forward with the process, and they encouraged us to continue to do that," he said. "There's always going to be questions of clarification, and that's really what this was all about. It wasn't getting into any specific cases of the parishes."

Recognizing the deep emotions among Western New York Catholics, from betrayal over the clergy abuse crisis to anger over parish closings, Bishop Fisher acknowledged the necessity of restructuring. "We have to move forward with this. We don't have the resources, we don't have the priests, and in some cases, we don't even have the people in the pews, so a restructuring had to be done," he explained.

Regarding the prolonged bankruptcy process, Bishop Fisher expressed understanding of survivors' frustrations. "I wish we could have settled it the first year," he said. "But we have a very complex situation in that we're not only restructuring but we're also trying to bring restitution and healing. That's one of my No. 1 priorities is to bring healing to the victims and those who have been abused, as well as our people and our parishes, our clergy."

The diocese's reorganization plan, filed in October 2025, includes a nearly $274 million settlement fund to compensate abuse survivors, with $150 million contributed by local parishes, some of which are affected by the closures and mergers.

As the Diocese of Buffalo navigates these challenging times, the focus remains on healing, renewal, and the future of the Catholic community in Western New York.