Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A letter written by five Catholic parishioners in Western New York has been sent to Pope Francis at The Vatican, calling for the removal of Bishop Michael Fisher from the Buffalo Catholic Diocese.
According to the parishioners, they are requesting a formal inquiry into Bishop Fisher's actions and decisions since his appointment in December of 2021. They say his actions have resulted in "adverse long-term and irreparable harm to the Catholic laity who reside in this community."
Parishioner Michael Taheri is one of the five that wrote and signed the letter sent to The Vatican. He says it was talked about for some time with the dissatisfaction with Bishop Fisher and his lack of spiritual leadership and stewardship.
"Finally after Easter, when we had fewer Masses than ever before, we had had enough, and on April 8, we penned a letter to the Pope asking for him to do an inquiry into Bishop Fisher's lack of spiritual leadership, Bishop Fisher's wasting of parishioner assets on all these legal fees," said Taheri on Thursday in an interview with WBEN. "Let's remember, not a single case has been settled by this clergy abuse scandal. And so after thought and prayer, we sent a letter to the Pope and we copied Bishop Fisher on it. We want to be open, we want to be transparent, and we want him to read it."
Among the claims Taheri and the other parishioners detailed in the letter, since the Diocese filed for Federal Bankruptcy in February of 2020, the legal fees for the more than 900 clergy sexual abuse cases are close to $15 million, and not one claim by a victim has been settled.
In addition to the bankruptcy, the letter claims Bishop Fisher has "turned his eye to closing Catholic churches and schools." This includes the most recent announcement to close the St. Andrew's Country Day School and Parish in Tonawanda.
"When he closes a school, he needs to come to that school himself and deliver that news, and he needs to come alone and imitate Jesus and suffer with the people, not send out some other priests to close a church or to close a school. That's the Bishop's job, is to mourn with us, teach us. He's failed on that. There's a great example of why he's not working in the Diocese of Buffalo," Taheri noted.
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The parishioners add that, perhaps, the greatest harm Bishop Fisher has caused in the Diocese is the reduction of Masses both on Sunday and during the week. They add his efforts to restructure parishes in the Diocese has "virtually strangled parish life and brought total chaos to all of the faith communities in our Diocese."
Taheri says it was a totality of the circumstances that was the tipping point to pen the letter with the other parishioners.
"He came here in 2021, I think we would pose the question: Is your spirituality better and improved after three-plus years under Bishop Fisher? And we would all say it is not. Are we in a stronger position after three years financially under Bishop Fisher's lack of leadership, and we aren't," Taheri noted. "He's closed Catholic schools, closed churches, we have fewer Masses. I think it's just important to look at this office that he leads. We pray for Bishop Fisher, we wanted him to be a successful Bishop. But sometimes his skills just aren't working in the Diocese of Buffalo. It's not an indictment of Bishop Fisher, it's just he's not the right fit."
What would Taheri and the other parishioners like to see transpire in the near future following this letter. He's hoping to have Pope Francis send some type of leadership team to Buffalo to meet with the laity and also the local priests of the region.
"Our priests do beautiful things, they work so very, very hard to deliver the sacraments and lead us in our faith, and find out the core problems under Bishop Fisher. I think what we need is a Bishop who comes, who is merciful, who smells like the flock of Buffalo, who imitates Jesus," Taheri said.
"Bishop Fisher is like the absentee Bishop. He's never around, he's never in community. He hides in the chancer. He's just not present, and that would be a universal complaint that he's just not in community with the people of the Diocese of Buffalo. So we want a Bishop who leads the spiritual flock first, who can give these victims and close this bankruptcy, make sure every victim is fully and fairly compensated in the clergy sexual abuse, not let it continue to languish. You can't have a bishop say, 'Well, it's on the courts.' He's the Bishop. This is his court. He's got to lead the flock, and he's just failed on both sides of it."
The Diocese of Buffalo did issue a response to the request from local Catholic parishioners, offering a number of facts to back Bishop Fisher’s tenure. This includes the backing of the Bishop's spiritual guidance in the diocese, the appointment of a Director of Cultural Diversity, highlights of the Road to Renewal program, and more.