The stained glass Rose Window at Holy Apostles Parish Ss. Peter and Paul is pictured. Repairs on the historic stained glass window were completed earlier this year.

Parishioners of the Holy Apostles Parish have received an early Christmas present from the Vatican with news that the church will not be merging with St. James Parish.

The church merger was originally announced in September 2024, with members of Holy Apostles Parish announcing roughly a month later that they were going to appeal the decision. The Save Holy Apostles Parish group that made the decision to appeal announced early Saturday morning that their appeal had been upheld.

“We have received a decision from the Dicastery for Clergy regarding the appeal of the extinctive merger of Holy Apostles Parish,” Samantha Scalise, procurator of the group leading the appeal to overturn the closure of Ss. Peter and Paul Parish. “I am overjoyed to announce that our appeal has been successful. The Dicastery has revoked the merger decree and Holy Apostles Parish will not be merging with St. James Parish.”

The Holy Apostles merger isn’t the only one to be reversed by the Vatican. The decree merging St. Bernadette in Orchard Park with Sts. Peter and Paul in Hamburg has been revoked. The Save Holy Apostles Parish group had argued there was no reason to close the church because its attendance had remained strong and was still financially viable, with the group urging church members to remain active at Holy Apostles Parish throughout the course of the appeal. Those efforts apparently carried merit with the Vatican, according to the letter received by Scalise and the Save Holy Apostles Parish group.

“The Dicastery has found no just cause exists to merge our parish based on its financial situation, attendance, registered households, number of sacraments, number of priests, or age of the congregation (or any other factor),” Scalise said in a Facebook post early Saturday morning. “Additionally, they found that the Bishop presented no information about how this merger will benefit our parish or any other parish. As such, they have revoked the merger decree on the basis of merit.”

The parish was also notified that it will not have to pay a hefty sum assessed by the Buffalo Diocese to help pay for the diocese’s settlement with victims of sexual abuse. Buffalo media reported parishes throughout the diocese were to contribute between 10 to 80 percent of unrestricted assets to help pay for the $150 million settlement. The church’s contributions would total $80 million.The settlements, which are basically a tax on Catholic churches in the diocese, levied a higher total owed for parishes chosen for extinctive merger under the Road to Renewal. Other churches that are remaining open are set to pay 65% of their unrestricted assets into the settlement fund.

Holy Apostles had signed on to a lawsuit seeking to overturn the assessments, but that lawsuit was dismissed by a state Supreme Court judge in Erie County.

“Additionally, this letter was accompanied by a letter stating that they have accepted our appeal of the assessment for examination and have suspended the “action” of the assessment,” Scalise wrote.

What happens next is unclear. The decision to keep Holy Apostles open means the Road to Renewal plan must be changed to deal with the diocese’s decreasing number of priests as well as to pay for the diocese’s share of sex abuse lawsuit claims. For now, though, Holy Apostles Parish members can celebrate the Christmas season without the uncertainty they faced last year.

“I expect people will have questions moving forward and will do my best to answer them when I am able,” Scalise wrote. “There will be an appeal group meeting to discuss these developments and next steps at some point in the future. However, given the fact that we’re coming up on the Christmas season, I’m uncertain as to when that meeting will be held.”