Daniel Zuckerman is reporting in The Daily Mail the Friends of St. Patrick’s Church met Tue., Jan. 4, at the Washington Irving Senior Center in Catskill to discuss future plans for the church. The group’s goals include completing the extensive renovations required to make the historic church functional again, and having engineers and other professionals involved in that process, parishioner Deb Johnson told the paper. The group received $25,000 during a fund drive started in early December, and people have committed to help with the needed repairs to the building, Johnson said. "We want professional people to do the work," she said. News of extensive mold and structural problems did not surprise Johnson. She said the report recently completed by the village of Catskill was identical to another report released 10 years ago, she said. A formal appeal to save the church has been submitted to the Vatican, and an answer is expected in four to six months. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany shuttered the Catskill church 10 years ago, and announced its permanent closure in May. The diocese said the 131-year-old historic building located on Bridge Street in the village was in poor structural condition, and the needed repairs were cost prohibitive. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.