The diocese has faced criticism from parishioners over high levels of contribution requirements for some parishes.
The Diocese of Buffalo, New York, will contribute an extra $10 million to its abuse settlement fund while lightening the contribution requirements for some parishes, Bishop Michael Fisher said this week.
The diocese announced a $150 million abuse settlement in April 2025. Insurance contributions have upped the total amount to around $315 million, though the diocesan contribution will remain the same.
The diocese was originally projected to pay $30 million into the settlement, with parishes asked to contribute $75 million. Controversially, parishes that were slated for closure or merger were to be required to contribute up to 80% of their “unrestricted cash” to the settlement.
In a March 23 letter obtained by EWTN News, Fisher told diocesan priests the diocese would up its contribution to $40 million while dropping the 80% cash requirement for merging parishes.
“The requested contribution of parishes will be based on the total available cash for those parishes that are being merged,” the bishop wrote.
The prelate said the diocese regards the plan “as a more equitable approach in keeping with essential canonical considerations.”
Fisher said the revised plan was developed after discussions with the Vatican, including a meeting with the Dicastery for the Clergy in Rome in October 2025.
The adjusted settlement plan comes after protracted and at times bitter disputes between Fisher and local parishioners who have opposed the diocese’s plans to close or merge struggling parishes.
In February the preservation group Save Our Buffalo Churches announced that it would appeal to the Vatican over what it claimed has been “ineffective and harmful” leadership from Fisher.
Save Our Buffalo Churches has been at the forefront of opposition to diocesan efforts to close and merge parishes as part of the diocesan “Road to Renewal” program.
Opposition to proposed closures and mergers has gone so far as to reach the New York Supreme Court, which in mid-2025 considered a lawsuit challenging the diocese’s payment requirements for merged parishes. The state court ultimately tossed the suit out, ruling that it did not have jurisdiction over Church governance disputes.
In December 2025, after appeals from parishioners, the Vatican ordered the reversal of several parish closures in the Buffalo Diocese.
Around the same time, Fisher said he would allow Catholics to meet at diocesan parishes while they work to oppose the parish closures, reversing an earlier rule he had established in October 2024.
In addition to merging parishes, the Buffalo Diocese in March 2024 announced the sale of its headquarters in downtown Buffalo.
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