'It was disheartening': Bishop Michael Fisher responds to call for his ousting

“It was disheartening in many ways," Fisher said.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Diocese of Buffalo Bishop Michael Fisher responded Thursday to a group of local Catholics asking the Vatican for his ousting and claiming he's failing the community.

That letter sent to the Vatican on Wednesday includes various articles, stories and comments by Catholics, all of whom share their disapproval and documentation of what they see as the harm done to the Catholic community by Bishop Fisher.

“It was disheartening in many ways, particularly the part where it says I’m basically just looking at things from a financial standpoint and money,” Fisher said.

A focus of the letter is what its authors say is the lack of progress by Bishop Fisher on settling almost 900 childhood sexual abuse cases.

Multiple local churches and schools, plus the diocese Main Street headquarters, are either closing or being put up for sale in what is being called a financial crisis.

“If there's going to be a school closing or a church closing, if you're the spiritual leader, you need to go talk to that parish or that school personally, on your own. Cry with them, offer mass for them, and talk to them directly and say, this is on me,” said parishioner Michael Taheri.

“Instead, he sends these B teams out and they always say, well, it's about the money. You didn't make your assessment, so we have to close you down,” Taheri added.

 “We have to meet the needs of the people with limited priests and resources, financial resources, and I have to take all that into consideration. It means that we’re going to have to close churches, close schools, but in the long run, we want to make sure that we have those assets, those resources that we can serve the people in the way that we're called to. That’s my focus,” Fisher said.

Taheri continued saying the bishop doesn’t want to face the truth and that “he hides."

"He's like a coward in the chancery. He's fearful," Taheri said.

“I do know that as a shepherd of this community, I do need to be out there more and to look for those opportunities that I'm able to share what we're doing and when I can,” said Fisher in response to Taheri's comment.

The letter says Bishop Fisher has caused long-term and irreparable harm to the local Catholic community, asking the Vatican to step in and review actions and decisions since his appointment. The bishop is open to that step.

“If the holy father needs to send someone in to look at how we are doing things, I have nothing to hide and I am certainly open to doing that,” Fisher said.

Taheri says if Bishop Fisher is open to the Vatican stepping in then he should write a formal letter to the Pope himself, saying that he supports the review.

You can view the Diocese of Buffalo's response to the letter below.