Our Family of Parishes has been designated by the Diocese as Family #7. The parishes in our family are:
- St. Gabriel Parish, Elma
- St. John Vianney Parish, Orchard Park
- Fourteen Holy Helpers Parish, West Seneca
- Queen of Heaven Parish, West Seneca
- St. John XXIII Parish, West Seneca.
The team of priests assigned to Family #7 are:
- Father Gregory Faulhaber … Priest In Solidum and Moderator for Family #7
- Father Walter Grabowski … Priest In Solidum
- Father Mark Itua … Parochial Vicar
- Father Ryan Keating … Parochial Vicar
- Father John Stanton … Parochial Vicar
Some parish families have had a specific priest named as the Pastor of that family with that priest assigned as the overall head of that family with parochial vicars and deacons assisting where available. Another model is being adopted in some parish families where more than Pastor will be working together is In Solidum. So, what does “In Solidum” mean? In the In Solidum model, a group of Pastors share responsibility for a Family of Parishes, with help from parochial vicars. One Priest in Solidum among the group will serve as a “moderator” or head for the family. In our Family #7 we have adopted the In Solidum model and Fr. Greg has been assigned as the Moderator. In this role he will lead the other priests and all f the parishes in our family.
One frequently asked question is “Does this mean that our parish doesn’t have a Pastor?” Fr. Bryan Zielenieski, Vicar for the Renewal of the Diocese of Buffalo, celebrated Mass with us recently. He addressed a few common questions about the Road to Renewal, including this one, before his homily. You can hear his remarks on the YouTube video of the Mass available at this link … Fr. Bryan’s Mass LINK. Fr. Bryan’s homily starts at the 19:10 mark on the video.
