Lawsuit involves Daemen College, nuns living on campus

Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·2 min read

Feb. 26—Should nuns who founded Daemen College in 1947 and have lived adjacent to the Getzville College for years be evicted from their homes so the college can build a parking lot?

Attorneys for the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Charity, based at Stella Niagara in Lewiston don't think so. They filed a motion in State Supreme Court on Feb. 12 citing First Amendment rights and arguing that civil courts cannot rule on the religious question of where and with whom the sisters make their home

Provincial Minister Sister Jo-Anne Grabowski, OSF, said when the lawsuit became public in January that the right of the sisters to live in those homes "was confirmed in 1996 through a written agreement between the Province and

Daemen which the sisters founded in 1947 as Rosary Hill College.

The Sisters' Attorney is Dennis K. Schaeffer of Bond, Schoeneck and King.

"The First Amendment . . . bars Daemen's attempt to define for the Sisters of St. Francis what their housing needs are," Schaeffer said, adding that he believes even if the court were to deny that portion of the complaint, the court would recognize other defects in the complaint.

Sister Jo-Anne, who sits on Daemen's board, said the sisters hoped to find a resolution to the conflict prior to litigation.

While the college offered to solve the problem by simply providing enough bedrooms elsewhere, sister Jo-Anne said it's not that simple.

"The place where a Sister of St. Francis makes her home is central to her life and identity as a professed woman religious," she said. ". . . A sister's home is her spiritual community, where, consistent with the Gospel and the teachings of St. Francis of Assisi and Catherine Damen, reverence for the human person can be learned."

Daemen officials offered to move the sisters into a nearby home the college purchased a year ago but did not return calls and emails seeking comment.

The sisters contend the 1996 agreement gave them a 20-year lease that automatically renews until they decide their housing needs have changed. The sisters administration is at Stella Niagara in Lewiston.