BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Old First Ward Community Center was packed Wednesday night with nearly 100 parishioners from Our Lady of Perpetual Help church.
The church is listed on the Buffalo Catholic Diocese merge list, and is recommended to merge with St. Louis church on Edward Street.
Sue Travis and other members of the parish council organized the meeting in hope they could find ways to convince the Diocese to take the church off the mergers & closures list.
Everything from legal action to protests were suggested by the parishioners, but there was a consensus that something must be done.
"This neighborhood is losing too much," Travis said. "We can't lose our church."
Travis is the vice president of the parish council. She says the Diocese based their decision on incomplete data.
According to Travis and other members of the parish council, the Diocese based its decision on a variety of metrics, including the number of sacraments, baptisms, and weddings each parish has.
The data used by the Diocese, according to the parish council, indicated that Our Lady of Perpetual Help hasn't had sacraments, baptisms, or weddings in months, possibly years.
Travis says it's a data error because the church opted to not buy the reporting software that the Diocese uses.
"We operate on a tight budget and the PDS system, which the diocese uses, costs money to get into," Travis said.
2 On Your Side has reached out to the Diocese for clarification on the data claim.
Several members of the town hall meeting called for legal action to be taken against the Diocese, and there were also ideas to break away from the Diocese all together.
Travis says the parish council would welcome any attorney willing to look at their claims.
"Pro bono? We'd love it," Travis said. " We don't have the money, and we can't touch church funds for this."