NEW YORK (NY)
Irish Central
February 28, 2019
By Niall O’Dowd
The Catholic Church abuse scandals have now impacted on Buffalo’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade celebrations as a leading cleric is forced to cancel marching in city’s parade.
The Bishop of Buffalo, New York, has been forced to drop out of the city’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade after a whistleblower on “60 Minutes” accused him of a cover-up and criticism from a local forced his hand. There has also been an online petition calling for him to drop out. The Buffalo St. Patrick’s Day Parade is one of the largest in the United States.
Bishop Richard Malone is accused of covering up scores of old abuse cases and currently covering for up to nine priests in his parish who have allegedly abused young children. His handling of the pedophile issue was the subject of a scathing “60 Minutes” report in November.
Explaining the decision to not march a press release from the Archdiocese stated:
“To prevent the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade from being used as a platform to address unrelated issues – however important those issues may be – Bishop Malone, with immense regret, has decided not to march in the Parade this year…. It is not the proper forum for controversy.”
The United Irish American Association, which runs the parade, had stated it was up to the diocese to decide who represented them.
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