The Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, New York has commented on the sale of a historic church to the local Muslim community, after a social media post about the deal triggered a deluge of outraged comments.

“Sold to the Islamic community for $250,000 who are converting the historic church into a mosque,” someone going by ‘Father R. Vierling’ posted on X, with photos of the Gothic-style cathedral. The post was viewed 11 million times.

Some of the comments were so furious that the original poster had to respond, urging people not to direct their anger against the Islamic community. He blamed the demise of the parish on “the changing demographics of the area and the inability to financially support the complex,” noting that this “scenario is being played out in once large, urban dioceses across the country.”

Financial concerns were indeed the reason for the sale, the Diocese of Buffalo told The Tablet, a Catholic outlet in New York City. Repairing the church would have cost over $30 million at the time, diocese spokesman Joe Martone said.

“It needed a tremendous amount of money in repairs,” Martone said. “The work that was needed was incredibly expensive and beyond the scope of the diocese.” 

The Diocese of Buffalo declared bankruptcy in 2020, under the burden of 900 allegations of sexual abuse involving clergy and other employees.

“profane use,” a term referring to closed churches no longer used as churches, allowing it to serve any purpose so long as it was not “sacrilegious, immoral, or scandalous.”

“We’ve had other properties that we’ve sold within the diocese that have been sold to other religious groups that have used them for their faith services, so as a general rule, the diocese does not have a problem with that,” he added.