A video circulated this Sunday on social media shows the last Mass celebrated at the Catholic church of Queen of Peace in Buffalo (New York), a temple that was later sold and converted into a mosque. The recording has once again drawn attention to the fate of a building located at 1955 Genesee Street, now known as Jami Masjid.
A sale for $300,000
According to a report at the time by the newspaper The Buffalo News, a Muslim group acquired not only the church but also the rectory, the convent, and the school of the complex for $300,000. The buyers announced that they would use it as a mosque and a community center for young people, under the name Masjid Jami. The newspaper also noted that Queen of Peace was the eighth Catholic church in Buffalo sold since 2006, the year the diocese began restructuring its parishes.
The church closed at the end of 2007. According to the same newspaper, the proceeds from the sale were intended to settle debts related to another closed church, Holy Name of Jesus, and to cover the maintenance and utilities of those properties. In the bidding process, the offer from Darul Hikmah was among the four submitted.
From the altar to the mosque
Before the sale, the church altar was acquired by a Catholic parish in Colorado, and the image of Mary, Queen of Peace, which presided over the temple, was donated to the Buffalo Religious Arts Center. The building now operates as Jami Masjid, of the Muslim Society of Buffalo, and hosts community activities, youth programs, and Quran classes.
The conversion has not been an isolated case in the city. InfoVaticana previously reported that the 164-year-old church of St. Anne was transferred to the Downtown Islamic Center after the Diocese of Buffalo chose to sell it rather than assume the costs of its upkeep.