Silent Vigil outside Bishop’s Home Held in Support of Alleged Abuse Victims

Buffalo News
September 23, 2015

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/silent-vigil-outside-bishops-home-held-in-support-of-alleged-abuse-victims-20150923

A silent candlelight vigil was held Wednesday evening outside the residence of Bishop Richard J. Malone to support a local man and woman who were abused as children by a priest and a teacher in the Diocese of Buffalo. Bishop Malone was in Washington, D.C., for the visit of Pope Francis.

Antonio “Tino” Flores says he was abused for five years in the 1970s by a now-deceased Franciscan father associated with Bishop Timon High School. Vanessa DeRosa says she was sexually harassed in 2002 and 2003 by a teacher at St. Dominic Savio Middle School in Niagara Falls who later served a prison term for possession of child pornography.

“We have reached out to the Buffalo Diocese and Bishop Malone, the U.S. Congress of Catholic Bishops and the Vatican and Pope Francis asking for an investigation and for an opportunity to meet with the pope during his visit, all without success,” said Diane R. Tiveron, a managing partner at the HoganWillig law firm.