In the midst of the multiday blizzard that paralyzed parts of western New York, Father Paul Seil, chaplain for the Buffalo Fire Department, had to evacuate the rectory at his parish in the city's Old First Ward neighborhood on Christmas Eve, then spent the night aboard the department's fire boat and celebrated a short Mass Christmas morning for crewman Jack Kelleher.
A rare submission by a Roman Catholic Church diocese to third-party oversight of its clergy was announced Tuesday when New York's attorney general said the state would monitor the Buffalo Diocese's management of sexual abuse complaints and allegations.