Minority-serving Catholic school in Albany Diocese to close

Two Catholic schools in the Diocese of Albany will close at the end of the 2024-25 academic year due to financial challenges, according to an announcement from the embattled northeastern chancery.

One of them, All Saints Catholic Academy, is majority-minority, and another Albany-area school—Blessed Sacrament, with a 40% Black student population—will lose its middle school and convert to pre-K-5.

“This was a difficult, but necessary decision,” the diocese said in a statement on March 14.

“Deficits at each school along with the inability of All Saints parish to provide financial support and needed building repairs at the school, all factored into the final decision.”

The changes cover three schools in total, including the above and Sacred Heart School in Troy, which will also close. Each has seen declining enrollment in recent years, necessitating a diocesan review initiated in early 2024.

That process, which parents critiqued publicly in February of this year, was expected to result in the closure of at least one involved school. In the final plan, the pre-K-8 Mater Christi School will absorb at least some students from Blessed Sacrament and All Saints.

“Efforts are underway to look into the possibility of providing transportation for current middle school students who want to continue at Mater Christi,” the diocese said. 

“A fair and equitable human resources process is being developed to determine staffing at the two schools. We will be providing supports and information to displaced students.”

Not mentioned in the diocese’s statement was its 2023 bankruptcy, initiated in response to mounting clergy child sex abuse payouts. These came primarily as a result of the New York Child Victims Act, which in 2019 lifted the normal statute of limitations for such cases.

Just this month, a federal judge ruled that a batch of newer cases can proceed against the Albany Diocese despite its recent Chapter 11 filing. According to reports, nearly 400 cases are still pending. Among them are several concerning the late Bishop Howard Hubbard, who covered for abusive priests during his 37-year tenure and was himself accused of abuse before retiring, requesting laicization, and marrying.

To date, the diocese has settled more than 50 abuse cases, at one point proposing $20 million for a “global settlement” to satisfy remaining actions—an offer that was rejected.

According to the diocese, its bankruptcy does not directly affect local Catholic schools, as they are separately incorporated under the state’s religious corporations law. The diocese's restructuring plan, however, has affected its ability to subsidize its schools, at least five of which will have closed or merged since 2021.

Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.

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