NEW YORK
The New York Times
September 18, 2019
By Sharon Otterman
Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo is facing calls for his resignation over a growing clergy sexual abuse scandal.
Bishop Richard J. Malone kept a secret black binder in a closet with a list of Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse. He was recorded in a conversation expressing more concern about his own reputation than about removing a priest whom he called dangerous and a “sick puppy.” And some of the bishop’s own clergy are circulating a letter of no-confidence in him.
Numerous Catholic bishops across the United States have become involved in controversies over their handling of clergy sexual abuse. But perhaps none has become as embroiled in scandal over the past year as Bishop Malone of Buffalo, one of the largest dioceses in the Northeast.
In an extraordinary turn of events in the hierarchical church, Bishop Malone is approaching persona non grata status in his own diocese. Some organizations are canceling events that he was set to attend, and he is declining other invitations, local Catholics said.
“Collections are drying up in parishes,” said John J. Hurley, the president of Canisius College in Buffalo and a leader of a lay group that had been working with Bishop Malone but is now calling for his resignation. “People are walking out of the parishes saying ‘I’ve had enough.’”
But despite revelations from whistle-blowers and calls from lay leaders and priests for him to step down, Bishop Malone has declined to do so.
Before 2018, the Buffalo diocese, which has 600,000 Catholics, had largely avoided the kind of turmoil over clergy sexual abuse that has occurred elsewhere in the country.
But then an accuser went public, saying that a priest, who has since retired, had molested him as teenager. That led dozens of other accusers to come forward, saying that they had also been abused by current or former priests.
As the number of accused priests grew, Bishop Malone’s handling of the crisis was quickly called into question because he had promised transparency but, in case after case, appeared to be shielding priests who were accused of abuse, local Catholics said.
Hundreds of people have now filed sexual abuse claims against clergy with the Buffalo diocese, or lawsuits under New York’s new Child Victims Act. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the state attorney general’s office have opened investigations.
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