BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News
March 21, 2020
By Dan Herbeck
An allegation of sexual misconduct against one of the region’s most high-profile priests led to another shakeup in the Diocese of Buffalo on Saturday.
The Rev. Peter J. Karalus, one of the closest aides to acting Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, was placed by the bishop on administrative leave while an independent investigator looks into the allegation made against Karalus, the Buffalo Diocese announced Saturday.
The allegation involves an incident that allegedly took place in 2011 when the man who made the claim was a minor, authorities told The Buffalo News.
In a statement Saturday afternoon, Karalus said, “I emphatically deny and confidently declare as false the allegation that I offered words of inappropriate content to a penitent during the Sacrament of Reconciliation nine years ago. … I trust and will fully cooperate in the process that will investigate this misplaced allegation. I am confident I will be fully exonerated.”
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