News

As we continue to move forward in creating our Cattaraugus Creek Catholic Community Family of Parishes, we are pleased to announce that we have a Family Business Manager for our family of parishes, Tricia Bofinger.

Many of our St. Aloysius parishioners are familiar with Tricia, who has been the secretary/receptionist/business manager at St. Aloysius for over fifteen years.

She has also been an important part of creating our central business office for the Cattaraugus Creek Catholic Community over the past several months.

Tricia will be available at the St. Aloysius office on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week from 9:00 AM until 12:00 Noon.

We thank Tricia for her assistance and support in bringing our financial affairs together and are grateful for her willingness to continue serving our Family of Parishes.

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Based on the bulletin of December 3, 2023.

There are lots of opportunities to assist families in our area through the Giving Trees at:

• St. John
• St. Aloysius
• St. Jude

The St. Aloysius Angel Tree has a basket below the tree filled with tags with specific gifts. When you take a tag, please take an angel from the angel basket and hang it on the tree. Please return the gift by December 10 with the tag firmly attached on the outside.

The Advent Giving Tree at St. John has gift tags on the tree. When you take a tag, please hang an angel ornament on the tree where the tag was. For security reasons, please return the wrapped gift with the tag attached (on the outside) inside the crying room at the back of the church by December 17.

The Pioneer Central School District is continuing their sponsorship program. Last year they helped over 35 families and 94 children with coats, boots, toys and games. Any donation amount is helpful, and if you’d like to sponsor a child, the amounts are $65 for Elementary, $75 for Middle School or $90 for High School. Checks can be made out to “Pioneer Giving Tree” and mailed to Pioneer Giving Tree Program, Pioneer Central School District, County Line Rd PO Box 639, Yorkshire, NY 14173.

All the families involved with our Giving Trees are going through financial hardships. The greatest gift we can give them are our prayers, so please consider taking the time to pray for their greatest needs to be met through the grace of our Lord.

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Based on the bulletin of December 3, 2023.

Over the past two weekends, we have celebrated the journey of two people who have expressed an interest in becoming part of our Catholic Christian community in two of our parishes.

At St. Aloysius Parish, Justin Domes has been learning more about our Christian faith and practice over the past several months and, as an unbaptized adult, we celebrated the Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens with him and his sponsor (Jonathan Michals) at the 10:30 Mass on Sunday, November 12th.

Meanwhile, at the 9:00 Mass on Sunday, November 19th, at St. Mary’s Parish in Arcade, we celebrated the Rite of Welcoming the Candidate with Mark Feltz (and his sponsor, Naomi Feltz), who was baptized in a non-Catholic church and is seeking full communion with the Catholic Church.

During the rite, the sponsors and the assembly were asked to approve and support Justin and Mark’s desire to become fully initiated members of our faith community, which they heartedly accepted.

We ask that all parishioners of the Cattaraugus Creek Catholic Community Family of Parishes continue to assist and support Justin and Mark through our prayers and the witness of our faith-filled lives as they continue their journey to full initiation into the Catholic Church.

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Based on the bulletin of November 26, 2023.

Please consider sharing some shelf stable cans of food with one of the many rural food pantries in our CCCC Parish Family Footprint.

They can use peanut butter, canned soups, cereal, macaroni and cheese, oatmeal, Spam, Vienna sausage and tuna fish. Or perhaps bring one of your own favorites!

There will be a collection box in the vestibule at St. Jude’s.

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Based on the bulletin of November 26, 2023.

Angel Tree helps prepare for Christmas:

November 26, 2023 the Angel Tree will be in St. Aloysius Church.

The gift tags for those in need can be found in the basket under the tree along with the angel basket.

Please take a tag home and purchase the item listed.

Gifts must be returned and placed under the tree by December 10, 2023.

An angel can be hung on the tree when you take a tag.

Please return a gift with the tag firmly attached.

Thank you and God bless you for sharing the true meaning of Christmas with others.

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Based on the bulletin of November 19, 2023.

As our Family of Parishes continues to develop, we are pleased to announce another step forward as we begin our Pastoral Office to serve the parishioners of the Cattaraugus Creek Catholic Community. The office will be at the St. Mary’s Parish Rectory in Arcade. The secretary/receptionist is Barb Parish, and she will be available during office hours in Arcade on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm. For the benefit of parishioners in Springville and West Valley, she will also be available on Tuesdays from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm at St. Aloysius Parish Rectory in Springville. We hope that these hours will accommodate the needs of all parishioners who wish to visit the office, and of course, Barb can be reached by phone or e-mail as well.

We would like to take this opportunity not only to welcome Barb, but also to express our gratitude to Patti Dashnaw of St. John the Baptist, Debbie Sisson of St. Mary’s, and Tricia Bofinger of St. Aloysius for the many years of dedicated service to our parish communities as secretary/receptionists and bookkeepers who often went above and beyond to support our parishioners and, in many ways, keep our parishes running so well! Thank you!

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Based on the bulletin of November 12, 2023.

To promote the unity of our parish family, it’s now possible to purchase t-shirts and sweatshirts with our parish family logo surrounded by our parish family name!

Please see the bulletin of November 5, 2023 for an order form…

…Or, you could try printing this unofficial PDF version of the order form, which replicates the form from the bulletin: View PDF

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Based on the bulletin of November 5, 2023.

For the official PDF version of this letter: View PDF

For your convenience, you can also read an unofficial text-only version here:

“DIOCESE OF BUFFALO
OFFICE OF THE BISHOP

A brief announcement relative to the Diocese’s bankruptcy:

For some time now, the Diocese has been actively engaged in mediation with the Creditors’ Committee, which represents the interests of abuse survivors. The Diocese’s insurance carriers have also participated in mediation as we work to establish a pool of settlement funds to provide some measure of restitution and, we pray, closure for survivors.

Any ultimate settlement will need to be funded by monetary contributions sourced from across our Catholic community, including from the Diocese, parishes, and other affiliated Catholic entities, as well as from available insurance assets. While confidential settlement discussions continue, our Catholic community must remain steadfast in supporting survivors and dedicating available resources to their healing. To that end, the Diocese, in close consultation with the priests who make up the parish steering committee, is making a commitment that the collective contribution of our Catholic community, not including any insurance monies, will be at least $100 million.

We recognize that honoring this commitment will be challenging, but it is absolutely necessary that we do everything in our power to set things right, to move beyond this dark chapter in our history, and move forward as together we work to rebuild and renew our Church.

We will keep you posted as more information becomes available.”

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Based on a letter from the Diocese of Buffalo, October 2023.

Our Cattaraugus Creek Parish Family Office located at St. Aloysius in Springville will be closed from October 9-20 (2023). Regular office hours will resume Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9 am – 12 pm starting October 23 (2023).

Thank you and God bless.

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Based on the bulletin of October 8, 2023.