Bishop Richard Malone Appointed Bishop of Buffalo

Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland
May 29, 2012

http://portlanddiocese.org/newsroom.php?nid=847

Bishop Edward U. Kmiec greets Bishop Richard Malone

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed the Most. Rev. Richard J. Malone, Bishop of Portland, as the new Bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo (New York). The Holy Father’s appointment was announced at 6 a.m. (Eastern) today (May 29, 2012) at the Vatican. The date of his installation will be August 10, 2012, 2 p.m. at St. Joseph Cathedral in downtown Buffalo.

Bishop Malone was installed as the 11th Bishop of Portland in March of 2004. Prior to his assignment in Maine, he served as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston upon his Episcopal ordination in 2000.

“I am most grateful to our Holy Father for his trust in appointing me Bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo. While there is sadness in my heart at leaving the Catholic faithful of Maine, especially the priests, deacons, consecrated religious, seminarians and lay leaders, I look forward with enthusiasm to taking up my responsibility as chief shepherd of the Church of Buffalo. I am very grateful to follow in the footsteps of Bishop Kmiec who is a loving, faithful and generous servant of the Gospel.”

Retiring Bishop Edward U. Kmiec says Bishop Malone can expect a warm welcome in Buffalo.

“Bishop Malone comes to Western New York with tremendous experience and a wonderful reputation for being a caring, pastoral bishop and a true shepherd to his people,” said Bishop Kmiec. “I am sure the faithful of the diocese will be ready and willing to support him to further the mission of the diocese. He will quickly learn that the people of this region are noted for being good neighbors, not just as citizens, but as active participants in the life of Church.”

Canon Law required Bishop Kmiec to submit his letter of resignation to the pope on June 4, 2011, his 75th birthday.

The Diocese of Buffalo has over 633,000 Catholics (more than three times that of Maine). In the city of Buffalo alone, there are 32 Catholic churches. The diocese has seven Catholic colleges and universities, and 15 Catholic High Schools. It is comprised of the eight western-most counties in New York State, with an area of 6,357 square miles (about one-fifth the size of the Diocese of Portland).

Bishop Malone was born March 19, 1946, in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of Samuel and Helen Malone, both deceased, and the brother of Harriet Malone, an art teacher at a Catholic High School in Massachusetts. He graduated from St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers in 1964, studied at Cardinal O’Connell Seminary in Jamaica Plain and received a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, a bachelor’s degree in divinity and a master’s degree in biblical studies from St. John Seminary in Boston. In 1981, he was awarded a doctorate in theology from Boston University and he earned his licentiate in sacred theology from Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge in 1990.

Ordained to the priesthood on May 20, 1972, by Archbishop Humberto Medeiros at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, Bishop Malone’s first assignment was at St. Patrick Parish in Stoneham where he served as associate pastor. During a voluntary leave of absence from parish ministry, he served as a member of the faculty at St. Clement High School in Somerville. At the conclusion of his leave, he was assigned to Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood and then as a professor at St. John Seminary. He also served as a part-time chaplain at Wellesley and Regis Colleges and taught at Emmanuel College in Boston.

Bishop Malone was chaplain at the Harvard-Radcliffe Catholic Student Center and in 1993, he was named director of the Office of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of Boston. In 1995, he was appointed archdiocesan secretary for education. He was also the liaison between the Archdiocese of Boston and the Jewish community of greater Boston.

An active member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Malone recently completed a term as chairman of the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis and continues to serve on that committee. He served two terms on the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People and is a member of the Board of Directors of Catholic Relief Services where he is chair of the U.S. Operations Committee. He also sits on the board of St. Mary Seminary and University in Baltimore and Blessed John XXIII Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts and is on the Board of Trustees of St. Joseph College in Standish.