Diocese of Buffalo
diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States
The Diocese of Buffalo (Latin: Diœcesis Buffalensis) is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Western New York in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese within the metropolitan province of the Archdiocese of New York. It was erected in 1847 and includes eight counties. The mother church is St. Joseph Cathedral in Buffalo. Michael Fisher is the bishop.
Range and population
The Diocese of Buffalo covers 6,455 square miles (16,720 km2).
History
1600 to 1800
In 1678, Louis Hennepin, accompanying French explorer René-Robert La Salle, celebrated the first mass in present day Buffalo.
During the British rule of the Province of New York in the 18th century, Catholics were banned from the colony. Richard Coote, the first colonial governor, passed a law at the end of the 17th century that mandated a life sentence to any Catholic priest.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Diocese of Buffalo” as diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q867424. Authority coordinates are 42.905, -78.849. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1847, 1600, 1800 and 1678.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Diocese of Buffalo”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Diocese of Buffalo primary sources, Diocese of Buffalo archive and Diocese research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Diocese of Buffalo”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Diocese of Buffalo” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.