(Buffalo, NY) – Amidst calls for his resignation as he deals with his latest clergy sexual misconduct scandal, Bishop Richard Malone continues to deflect, deny and disparage.
After years of covering up for sexually abusive priests in his diocese, it’s more of the same and it’s why the calls for his resignation mount.
Jeff Anderson joined Steve Boyd in Buffalo this morning to support survivors and call for Bishop Malone to resign after the bombshell news broke that Malone discussed his possible resignation with diocesan officials in the wake of a scandal regarding Christ the King Seminary and claims of sexual harassment by Fr. Jeffrey Nowak, a diocesan priest. Anderson and Boyd are attorneys who represent child sexual abuse survivors.
“Truth is simple,” Anderson said. “Deception, denial and prevarication are complex. Bishop Malone is a master at it.”
Bishop Malone hastily called a press conference later in the day to address the scandal. He reportedly barred at least one Buffalo reporter, who has written several stories uncovering Bishop Malone’s mishandling and cover-up of clergy abuse in the diocese, from attending. He cast doubt on the word of Fr. Nowak’s accuser and aspersions about the accuser’s motivations. He was more concerned that a diocesan official recorded conversations about the scandal – including the resignation discussion and one in which Bishop Malone called Nowak a “sick puppy”—than he was about the damaging content of the recordings. He deflected and ignored.
“It’s time,” he said of clergy abuse scandal in his diocese, “to move on.”
It seemed too easy for him to say that after all that has happened, Anderson said.
“It’s time for truth,” Anderson said. “It’s time for accountability. It’s time for amends. It’s time for justice. Bishop Malone has not served any of these.”
For more than a year, the Diocese of Buffalo and Bishop Malone have been embroiled in scandal and controversy that has garnered national and international attention. Only after pressure from the media, survivors, attorneys and advocates did Bishop Malone finally release a list of priests who were accused of child sexual abuse in the Diocese of Buffalo. Bishop Malone has returned several priests to ministry who have been accused of child sexual abuse by multiple survivors after deficient internal investigations were conducted by diocesan-paid investigators, and parishioners and the public have repeatedly called for Bishop Malone’s resignation, yet he refuses to do.
Calls for Bishop Malone’s resignation lit up social media sites during his press conference. Anderson and Boyd couldn’t agree more.
“Buffalo is a Catholic town,” Boyd said. “The faithful people of this area deserve modern leadership, transparency, and an end to this scandal. It’s time for Bishop Malone to step aside.”