Buffalo Mass Mob group brings attention to struggling historic churches in Buffalo

Voting for Buffalo Mass Mob III begins

Buffalo Mass Mob has announced voting for its third Mass mob in underway. The first two mobs were at St. Adalbert Basilica on Nov. 2, 2013, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help on Jan. 12. The churches in the running to host the next Buffalo Mass Mob are St. Casimir Church in Kaisertown; St. Anthony Church in downtown Buffalo; Holy Angels Church on the west side; and St. Kanty Church in east Buffalo's Polonia. The third Buffalo Mass Mob will take place Sunday, March 23, at one of these locations. The vote ends Feb. 24.

After the second Mass Mob in Buffalo, the Associated Press published a story on the local movement. Since then, the story has been picked up by news and media outlets across the nation and internationally. The idea has captured the imagination of Catholics. The Buffalo Mass Mob concept is starting to be duplicated by people in other cities, such as New York, Rochester, Columbus, Cleveland, Wilmington and others.

Greg Witul, Buffalo Mass Mob co-founder, said, "It's amazing that this little event started in Western New York has garnered national attention and is becoming a movement. Each one has taken this simple idea and adapted it to its own locale. Some are using it as an organized fundraiser for a parish, while others are using it to evangelize, and still others are using it to expose people to churches of many denominations - all within the spirit of highlighting the nation's beautiful, but forgotten churches. The success of the Buffalo Mass Mob thus far has been its ability to reach beyond the social media realm and into everyday conversation. In this way, it has moved beyond the digital divide and unites the community as a whole, regardless of age, race, income or education. With many of these historic churches you also have an attachment that spans generations: Younger family members remember attending Mass with grandparents or going to an uncle's wedding or a niece's baptism. So when they see their church involved in a 'Mass Mob,' they want to get involved."

Buffalo Mass Mob was started in 2013 as a way to bring attention and support to some of Buffalo's historic and beautiful churches by simply inviting people to come to Mass. The group invites the public to vote on the next Mass by visiting its website www.BuffaloMassMob.org.