Buffalo Mass Mob 58 will be at Queen of Angels R.C. Church on Sunday, August 9th for 10:00 AM Mass. Queen of Angels will be closing near the end of the summer. Join us. The church is located at 144 Warsaw St. at Electric Ave. in the heart of Lackawanna.

When we caught wind of the church closing, we decided to schedule a Mass Mob at Queen of Angels without interfering with what the church has planned for their last Mass.

The history of the Queen of Angels Church in Lackawanna, New York, is deeply intertwined with the region’s industrial boom, Polish-American immigrant heritage, and the structural reorganization of the Diocese of Buffalo. [1, 2]

Origins: St. Michael the Archangel

The physical home of Queen of Angels Parish began as St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church, located at Warsaw Street and Electric Avenue. [1, 2]

In the early 20th century, thousands of Polish immigrants moved to Lackawanna to work in the expanding steel mills. To meet the spiritual and cultural needs of this growing community, several Polish “personal parishes” were established. St. Barbara was founded in 1903, followed by St. Hyacinth. In 1921, Bishop William Turner authorized the creation of a third Polish personal parish—St. Michael the Archangel. [1, 2, 3, 4]

For decades, St. Michael’s served as a cultural anchor for the local Polish community, preserving traditions, language, and sacred items, such as a prominent portrait of Our Lady of Czestochowa painted and brought over directly from Poland. [1, 2]

The 2008 Merger and Renaming

As heavy industry and steel manufacturing declined in Lackawanna throughout the late 20th century, the local population shrank, leading to lower church attendance.

In response, the Diocese of Buffalo initiated structural re-organizations. Effective March 31, 2008, a massive consolidation took place under the diocese’s Journey in Faith and Grace initiative: [1, 2, 3]

• Lackawanna’s three historic Polish parishes—St. Michael the Archangel, St. Barbara, and St. Hyacinth—were suppressed.
• They were merged with Our Lady of Grace (a territorial parish in nearby Woodlawn).
• The newly unified congregation was named Queen of Angels Parish. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

The diocese chose the historic St. Michael the Archangel church building to serve as the sole place of worship for the new parish. Because it absorbed the territory of Our Lady of Grace while physically sitting inside the geographic boundaries of Our Lady of Victory, Queen of Angels uniquely operated as both a Polish personal parish and a territorial parish. [, 2, 4]

The 2024–2026 Closure

By the 2020s, the Diocese of Buffalo faced severe financial strain and demographic shifts, prompting its Road to Renewal program. Following recommendations issued in mid-2024, Queen of Angels was slated for closure in 2026.

Please join us on August 9th.