NEW YORK
Buffalo News
By Jay Tokasz | News Staff Reporter | Google+
on February 8, 2014
A group of local Catholics battling Bishop Richard J. Malone over the future of an East Side church has found an unexpected ally – the Vatican.
St. Ann Church just six months ago was on track to be demolished.
But the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy, in a recent ruling on an appeal by St. Ann parishioners, has made it clear that repairs of up to $12 million are not a good enough reason for the building to be demolished or converted into something other than a Catholic church.
“Rome is saying it should be a church,” said Ronald Bates, part of the group fighting to keep the church going. “We can’t throw it away. It’s craziness.”
The Vatican decision marked a rare and resounding win for Catholic lay people objecting to a bishop’s decision.
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