The morning after a Spanish Mass and inspirational performance by vocal artist Ge’la that filled the church to capacity, parishioners were informed that their days of attending Mass at St. Mary’s are numbered.
Last Wednesday evening, members of the former St. Mary’s Parish Council were summoned to a meeting by Pastor Donald Kaufman. It is unclear why this was done, as St. Mary’s is no longer an independent parish. It ceased being one on December 17, 2025, making the people of St. Mary’s parishioners of St. Peter-St. Denis-Immaculate Conception.
As Sunday’s Mass drew to a close, former Parish Council members Isidoro Acevedo and Cesar Cuadra were tasked with making what they had learned on Wednesday available to the congregation, in English and in Spanish.
They informed the assembled faithful of the following:
The school and parish hall buildings will close as of September 1st.
Religious education at St. Mary’s is suspended.
The children, up to 55 of them, will have to be accommodated at St. Peter’s and other nearby parishes.
The church is estimated to close its doors at some point in October, as the heat will have been turned off.
The reason Father Kaufman presented for shutting down all Masses, ministries and devotions at St. Mary’s is that it is no longer financially sustainable to hold them. St. Mary’s school had been leased by the City of Yonkers Board of Education and the lease ends on July 31st.
Without the $340,000 from this contract Father Kaufman deemed keeping St. Mary’s open unfeasible. While it was not mentioned from the pulpit, Father Kaufman had informed the group on Wednesday that St. Mary’s parish was $45,000 in debt to St. Mary’s Cemetery. Again, St. Mary’s is not a parish so how can it have debt? That point was not raised at the meeting. One attendee noted that Father Kaufman had balance sheets in front of him but did not share them.
At one point during Sunday’s announcements lifetime parishioner and St. Mary’s School alum, Anthony Kunny stood up, unamplified, and asked, “Did Father Kaufman provide any proof of the deficit and the proof that the rental from the school went solely to St. Mary’s and not to the Archdiocese? Is this another ploy by the Archdiocese to strangle us, to close the church so they can close the property?”
Mr. Kunny’s question may have been inaudible to the altar but, in response, Isidoro Acevedo provided more detail from the meeting, saying that if “you guys,” meaning St. Mary’s Friends came up with the money, could Father Kaufman “give a number.” That suggestion was dismissed, as was others. At the Wednesday meeting participants offered suggestions to boost revenue and contain expenses such as restoring Spanish Mass, finding another tenant for the school and reducing staff. All were dismissed, with Father Kaufman purportedly rejecting a “piecemeal” solution.
Former Parish Council President, Cesar Cuadra, was invited by Isidoro to address the congregation in Spanish. He paraphrased what Isidoro had said in English and echoed Mr. Acevedo’s exhortation to keep coming to Mass and praying for a miracle, acknowledging that the church was supposed to close two years ago, yet we are all still present here.
Father Anthony Omenihu took the microphone next, exhorting the congregation to keep coming, keep praying. He recalled being given a 1 month assignment to prepare the church for final closure, but due to the congregation’s optimism and ability to appeal to the Vatican, he has been here for two years. He advised us to come, to pray and to keep representing ourselves positively and logically.
Having received a microphone, Anthony Kunny again posed a question: “For those of you who didn’t hear me before, the question I asked was ‘Did Father Kaufman provide any proof of the deficit that St. Mary’s had. He claims that there is $340,000.00 from the rental and an additional $45,000 from the cemetery fund. That’s close to $400,000. Does it take that much or more to operate St. Mary’s the property over the past year? So it seems that the archdiocese is trying to strangle St. Mary’s. They are going to close it for the sole purpose to sell the property.’”
While Father Omenihu did not field that question, Cesar Cuadra replied, “Anthony, the short answer to that question is “Yes.” That is what the archdiocese is trying to do; stronghold it and make that decision. So Father Kaufman feels like his hands are tied. There’s nothing I can do because even if we come up with the money there’s nothing he could do. I think they are set on selling the property and, you know, unfortunately that’s their belief right now. So we just gotta hope for a miracle. Thank you. Siga movimiento rosando. Yo espero que El Señor haga su milagro. Amen.”
In the absence of financial transparency and substantive information, many parishioners share Mr. Kunny’s unanswered questions.
The Vatican’s Dicastery for Clergy is currently reviewing the parishioners’ appeal of Cardinal Dolan’s decree merging St. Mary’s into the parish of St. Peter-St. Denis. If the Vatican rules in favor of the parishioners we will have an opportunity to see if even the Archdiocese of New York will answer to a higher authority.