ALBANY (NY)
Times Union [Albany NY]
May 15, 2022
By Lauren Stanforth
The diocese said Father Gregory Weider will be added for “reasonable cause” related to allegations of sexual abuse against minors
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany said Sunday it added an 85-year-old retired priest to its list of about 50 credibly accused clergy “after an extensive investigation.”
Weider was removed from public ministry in August 2021 due to an allegation contained in a Child Victims Act lawsuit. Weider had been serving as a sacramental minister at Sacred Heart in Margaretville, Delaware County and its mission, St. Anne’s in Andes. Once he was placed on administrative leave he was no longer allowed to publicly officiate at sacraments, wear clerical garb or present himself as a priest.
Weider was ordained in 1963 and has served at the following locations: Blessed Sacrament, Mohawk; St. Anthony, Schenectady; St. Agnes, Cohoes; St. Thomas the Apostle, Delmar; St. Mary’s, Coxsackie; Holy Cross, Albany; Sacred Heart, Watervliet; and Holy Trinity, Schaghticoke, which was the merger of St. John the Baptist and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Johnsonville, and St. Monica, Valley Falls. He also served as diocesan chaplain for scouting; assistant national chaplain for scouting; chaplain at Samaritan Hospital in Troy, with residence at Our Lady of Victory, and chaplain at St. Mary’s Hospital, Amsterdam. He retired from full-time ministry in 2010.
The diocese said the independent Diocesan Review Board forwards information related to an accused priest, allegations of abuse and any investigatory reports to the Bishop, who then reviews everything before making a decision on whether to accept the board’s recommendation.
The diocese’s credibly accused list was created in 2015. The list contains names of Diocese of Albany clergy who have been removed from ministry, and those who are deceased or resigned prior to “a finding of reasonable grounds by the Diocesan Review Board due to sexual misconduct with a minor.”
Lauren Stanforth works for the Times Union’s investigations team. Her reporting career began at the Ithaca Journal in 1996, and moved on to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle in 1998, where she worked until coming to the Times Union in 2007. You can reach her at lstanforth@timesunion.com.