St. Luke's Mission of Mercy - Table of Contents

St. Luke's Mission of Mercy
Formerly St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church
325 Walden Avenue (Sycamore at Oberlin streets), Buffalo NY

St. Luke's Mission of Mercy - Official Website

Partial reprint
St. Luke's Mission of Mercy to Celebrate 15th Anniversary
By Michelle Fritz
July 8, 2016 Am-Pol Eagle (online October 2019)

Since 2006, Henry Swiatek, a restoration and painting specialist, has been working on painting and restoring St. Luke Church on Buffalo’s East Side to its original beauty. And while the original mission for the building has changed it will still be home to a spiritual celebration later this summer.

St. Luke’s Roman Catholic Parish, Sycamore St., Buffalo, was founded on Oct. 18, 1908 as the Polish community expanded eastward from St. Stanislaus Church to St. Adalbert’s Basilica and Transfiguration Church. But, after over 80 years of worship and a decline in membership, the church was closed by the Diocese of Buffalo in 1993.

While the original founders’ vision for the church has definitely changed, there is little doubt that they would object to its mission today.

In 1994, Amy Betros and Norm Paolini were looking for a place to practice their ministry when Bishop Edward Grosz suggested they look into the recently closed St. Luke’s. Attending an auction of the many beautiful works of art in St. Luke’s, Amy’s attention was caught by a mosaic of the Divine Mercy, the only piece not for sale. She took that as her sign that St. Luke’s would be the perfect spot to practice her ministry.

She sold her restaurant, her partner Norm took an early retirement and with the help of a generous benefactor, they were able to purchase the St. Luke’s complex, including the church, the convent, the rectory and the school. On August 1, 1994 St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy was born.

This year St. Luke’s is celebrating its 15th year of helping those in need. Co-founder and co-director Amy Betros said, “If you want to build a city you have to help those who can’t help themselves.” And they have. Countless people have benefited from St. Luke’s services today and in only 15 years about 250 people converted to the Catholic faith.

Betros said St. Luke’s gives a sense of hope in a community that is in desperate need of it. “There would be nothing here if it wasn’t for St. Luke’s,” she said about the poverty-stricken area on the East Side of Buffalo. She pointed out the neighboring Miller St. used to be a terrible area with drug problems and now with St. Luke’s help it’s drug-free.

Swiatek said St. Luke’s was built in the 1920s when Buffalo’s status in the world was much greater than it is today. It was common for some of the best artists and architects to come to Buffalo because Buffalonians had the money to bring them here.



Page by  Chuck LaChiusa in 2019
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