ALBANY (NY)
The Daily Gazette [Schenectady NY]
August 22, 2021
Retired Roman Catholic priest Father Gregory Weider was temporarily removed from public ministry, effective Aug. 14, by Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, prelate of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, according to a statement issued by the diocese Saturday.
Weider, 84, was put on leave due to the filing of a sexual abuse-related allegation against him under the Child Victims Act, according to the release. The law included a one-year look-back window that allowed victims from 1970 and prior to sue, and was extended through Aug. 14 of this year due to the pandemic.
The clergyman has been serving as a sacramental minister at Sacred Heart in Margaretville and its mission church, St. Anne’s in Andes, both in Delaware County. His first assignment after his priestly ordination was as associate pastor at St. Anthony’s on Seward Place in Schenectady from 1963 to 1964, the diocese said.
During his tenure as associate pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle in Delmar from June 1971 to July 1977, he was simultaneously diocesan and assistant national chaplain for scouts. He began with the scouts in February 1972, but, when asked Saturday evening, the diocese could not confirm when during his time at St. Thomas the Apostle his tenure with the scouts ended. The accused was also the chaplain at St. Mary’s Hospital, now St. Mary’s Healthcare, in Amsterdam from November 2002 to June 2010, according to the diocese.
During his removal, Weider cannot present himself as a priest, which includes an inability to celebrate any of the sacraments or wear clerics, cassocks, stoles or vestments.
Even though the window under the Child Victims Act has closed, the diocese continues to urge anyone sexually abused by a Catholic priest or deacon as a child to report their matter to local law enforcement or to the diocese.