Queen of Peace,
Buffalo, New York

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Address: 1935 Genesee Street
Buffalo, N.Y. 14211
Queen of Peace in Buffalo
Telephone: 716-892-5646
Fax: 716-892-5647
Founded: July 1920
Pastor: Rev. Richard Poblocki
Mass Schedule: Saturdays 4 PM ; Sundays 9 & 11 AM
Parish census: 289 Families
School: Parish School closed in 1985
Year Built: 1930
Style: English Gothic

History

At the beginning of the 20th century, the main thrust of the Polish expansion was eastward along Broadway and Sycamore Street. The northeastward development started in the later 1910s along Genesee Street, which was a predominately German section of the city. With a small group of dedicated Poles, the Rev. Stanislaw Pawlowski was sent to organize a new parish to accommodate the Poles in this area.

The enthusiastic Poles eagerly constructed a wooden building on land purchased between Forman and Theodore Streets to serve as a temporary church. This was followed by another structure to serve as school and convent for the Felician Sisters. With the number of parishioners increasing and the student body swelling the old school house, Fr. Pawlowski began construction of a new combination church/school complex, completed in 1930. During the pastorate of Fr. Bronislaw Majerowski, construction began on a new convent.

In 1959, the Rev. Stanislas Brzana was appointed the new pastor; later that year he was raised to the rank of Monsignor. The talented and well versed Msgr. was further acknowledged when in 1964, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Buffalo, the first Polish American in the area to be distinguished. Bishop Brzana was later appointed Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of Ogdensburg and was succeeded by Fr. John Gabalski, a native son of the parish. During the seventies, the parish saw a steady decline in school enrollment forcing it to close in 1985. With the racial make up of the neighborhood also changing, younger families left; the elderly and diehard parishioners remain. Since 1998 the parish has been directed by the young Fr. Richard Poblocki.


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