OBSERVER file photo A group of statues were restored at St. Hedwig’s Church in 2021.

St. Hedwig Church will host its final Mass on Sunday at 3 p.m.

The Catholic Church in Dunkirk is closing under orders of the Buffalo Diocese, as it engages in a “Road to Renewal.” Numerous other local Catholic churches are slated to close, or have shuttered already, as the diocese attempts to address plummeting clergy availability.

St.Joseph’s in Fredonia already held its final Mass, a midnight Mass on Christmas. Some other churches, such as St. Anthony’s in Fredonia, are slated to close by 2026. The diocese wants to essentially combine all Fredonia and Dunkirk parishes into one entity that would usually worship at Holy Trinity in Dunkirk, with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Dunkirk designated a “secondary” worship site.

According to a press release notifying the OBSERVER of Sunday’s St. Hedwig Mass,

“In 1902, a group of Polish immigrants in Dunkirk’s Fourth Ward petitioned Bishop Charles Colton for the establishment of a new Catholic church. Permission was granted, and Rev. P. Szulc was appointed as the first pastor. After acquiring land, the community built a provisional place of worship known as St. Hedwig’s. This initial structure stood until 1905, when a second, more permanent church was constructed. That sacred edifice served the faithful for nearly seven decades, until 1973, when the current St. Hedwig Church was completed and dedicated by Bishop Edward Head.”

The release notes that St. Hedwig’s parish was merged with St. Hyacinth’s (which is also slated to close) in 2008 to form the Blessed Mary Angela Parish, in an earlier Buffalo Diocese effort to address falling clergy membership.

Sunday’s Mass will be concelebrated by Rev. Robert J. Owczarczak, along with local clergy and former pastors. The final homily will be delivered by Rev. Michael Parker, a Dunkirk native who was ordained to the priesthood from St. Hyacinth Church.

“This Farewell Mass will be an opportunity for all who have been touched by the legacy of St. Hedwig to come together in prayer, gratitude, and remembrance,” according to the press release.