The serious budget cuts that led the Madison Catholic Diocese to close its social services center on the city's South Side also wiped out nearly one-third of the diocese's staff.

Layoffs completed Thursday eliminated about 20 of the diocese's 65.5 full-time-equivalent positions, said spokesman William Yallaly.

He declined to release the titles of those cut. The layoffs included the four full-time and three part-time employees of the Catholic Multicultural Center, 1862 Beld St.

The center, which provided an array of services to minorities and the poor, including a soup kitchen and English classes for immigrants, closed Friday.

The diocese announced its closure Wednesday.

The rest of the positions eliminated were at the diocese's headquarters, Yallaly said. The diocese has said a drop in investment income, coupled with a difficult fundraising environment, led to the cuts.

About 15 city officials and representatives from social service agencies gathered Friday for "a crisis meeting" on the Catholic Multicultural Center, said City Council President Tim Bruer.

The group, which included Janet Piraino, chief of staff to Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, will research ways to preserve center programs elsewhere or perhaps keep some services at the center under other auspices if the diocese would allow it, Bruer said.

The abrupt manner in which the diocese shut down the center was unfortunate, he said.

"It did not allow for any kind of a transition plan," he said. "It is being seen by those still in shock as totally conflicting with the spiritual being of the Catholic Church."

Bruer said he grew up benefitting from youth programs at St. Martin House, a part of the multicultural center that dates to 1946.

Three weeks ago, at an unrelated meeting with diocesan officials, Bruer said he mentioned how much the programs meant to him.

The officials said nothing about closing the center, he said. Also Friday, a UW-Madison graduate student began a fundraising effort to encourage the diocese to reopen the center.

Tim Huegerich, 27, said he is a Catholic who has volunteered at the center. "It had really been a point of pride to me as a Catholic that my contributions were supporting that center," he said.

Huegerich is collecting pledges at savethecmc@gmail.com. If the center were to reopen, people would be asked to follow through on their pledges. As of Friday afternoon, Huegerich said he had pledges totaling $1,655 .