I would like to suggest interested parties write a letter to the diocesan office (perhaps the archivist) about the condition and availability of all the records in the diocese. Maybe a preservation plan could be put into place at that level that would apply to all the parishes. I have found that every parish and indeed every pastor has different policies and different attitudes regarding their old records. Perhaps the diocese needs to get a handle on the problem. The Canadian church has already done this and I've tracked my family back to the 1700's because their records are in such good shape.