{"id":721,"date":"2010-01-26T02:28:14","date_gmt":"2010-01-26T06:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corpuschristibuffalo.org\/site\/?p=721"},"modified":"2010-01-26T02:28:14","modified_gmt":"2010-01-26T06:28:14","slug":"fr-anzelm-to-leave-corpus-christi-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corpuschristibuffalo.org\/site\/?p=721","title":{"rendered":"FR. ANZELM TO LEAVE CORPUS CHRISTI CHURCH"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Buffalo, New York \u2013 After serving six years as Pastor of historic Corpus Christi Church, Fr. Anzelm Chalupka has been re-assigned to St. Casimir\u2019s Church in Yonkers, New York.<\/p>\n

Fr. Matthew Wydmanski, who has been at the parish for the last year, has been named the new Pastor in what continues as the Pauline Order\u2019s steadfast commitment to Corpus Christi. These changes reflect the standard policy of the Paulines and many other religious orders to rotate their priests\u2019 assignments on a regular basis. The news comes just days after the parish announced the start of its Phase II Preservation Fund campaign to restore the church to its full beauty.<\/p>\n

During Fr. Anzelm\u2019s tenure, numerous new families joined the congregation. Many more attended special occasions such as the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass. Still, Fr. Anzelm\u2019s final wish is to see Corpus Christi Church, which seats 1,600 worshippers, filled to capacity just once before he leaves Buffalo. In hopes of making that wish a reality, the parish extends a warm welcome to all Western New Yorkers to share in a final Mass on Sunday, January 31 at 11:30a.m.<\/p>\n

In the spring of 2003, the Conventual Franciscan Fathers sadly announced that they could no longer continue their ministry at Corpus Christi. Devastated, the congregation prayed for a miracle to save this beloved parish from closing. After months of uncertainty and just weeks before the church\u2019s scheduled shuttering, those prayers were answered in the form of an energetic, 34 year-old Pauline priest from Poland \u2013 Fr. Anzelm Chalupka. After several visits to Buffalo, Fr. Anzelm volunteered to take on the daunting challenge of renewing both the faith community and physical structure of this beloved parish, believing he could \u201cmake a difference\u201d and \u201cdo something good\u201d here. <\/p>\n

On January 4, 2004, Fr. Anzelm promised the hundreds of well-wishers who attended his first Mass, \u201cWe will do our best to help you find God in this place.\u201d For the last six years, he has been true to his word. Under his leadership, new families have joined the congregation; devotions to Our Lady of Czestochowa and Divine Mercy offer opportunities for people to connect with their faith in fresh ways; and there has been a re-dedication to long-standing observances such as Corpus Christi Sunday and the May Procession.<\/p>\n

In ways large and small, Fr. Anzelm has always sought to protect and enhance Corpus Christi\u2019s extraordinary beauty. Under his leadership, Corpus Christi was designated a New York State Landmark and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Significant restoration projects have been completed – most notably the Rose Window and the complete replacement of the slate tile roof. Last fall, the parish hosted a large-scale, historic exhibit at the Karpeles Library Manuscript Museum.<\/p>\n

His most recent undertaking, completed just weeks ago, is the convent chapel where daily Mass is observed. The chapel had long been in disrepair when Fr. Anzelm re-imagined the space as a more intimate place for daily prayer and reflection.<\/p>\n

Many objects from area churches that were closed by the Buffalo Diocese were incorporated into the chapel plan, ensuring that these items remain a part of the area\u2019s religious heritage. By far, the most inspiring of these additions are the eight stained-glass windows, depicting Polish saints, from Queen of Peace Church. Most of these items were gifts, requiring little investment from the parish. As a result, the chapel project did not divert funds from Corpus Christi\u2019s capital campaign. In the case of the windows, a group of anonymous donors paid for the installation.<\/p>\n

In reflecting on his time in Buffalo, Fr. Anzelm had these parting words, \u201cIt is difficult to understand Buffalo. It is a city of great beauty and gritty poverty; a community of such generous spirit, and yet there are so many neighborhoods that have been abandoned. Even though I have experienced these differences, I have come to love this place. The recent Extreme Makeover on the West Side has shown all of us how much can be accomplished when people band together for a common good. For the last six years, we have worked to bring renewal and hope to the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood, but we cannot do it alone. Now is the time for an Extreme Makeover for Buffalo\u2019s East Side. We cannot wait for someone from far away to fix this neighborhood; the good people of Buffalo must make this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

For additional information, call (716)896-1050 or visit the website at www.corpuschristibuffalo.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buffalo, New York \u2013 After serving six years as Pastor of historic Corpus Christi Church, Fr. Anzelm Chalupka has been re-assigned to St. Casimir\u2019s Church in Yonkers, New York. Fr. Matthew Wydmanski, who has been at the parish for the last year, has been named the new Pastor in what continues as the Pauline Order\u2019s … [Read more…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[27,6,7,8],"tags":[62,92],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-admin","4":"has-more-link","5":"post-721","7":"format-standard","8":"category-audio","9":"category-multimedia","10":"category-news","11":"category-press-release","12":"post_tag-father-anzelm-chalupka","13":"post_tag-father-matthew-wydmanski"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3PTnp-bD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpuschristibuffalo.org\/site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpuschristibuffalo.org\/site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpuschristibuffalo.org\/site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpuschristibuffalo.org\/site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpuschristibuffalo.org\/site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/corpuschristibuffalo.org\/site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpuschristibuffalo.org\/site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpuschristibuffalo.org\/site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpuschristibuffalo.org\/site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}