Buffalo Diocese Whistleblower: "This Is about the Survivors"

By Mark Goshgarian
Spectrum Local News
October 31, 2018

http://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/news/2018/10/29/buffalo-diocese-sex-abuse-scandal-60-minutes

A former employee of the Diocese of Buffalo revealed why she blew the whistle on Bishop Richard Malone and the church abuse scandal.

Siobhan O’Connor, who worked at the Diocese offices for three years as an administrative secretary, says she decided to serve as a whistleblower after people who allege priests abused them as children started to come forward.

"If you'd ever told me in the beginning, back in July and August, that I would have to go on national television, I might have hesitated, because it's very overwhelming," she said.

O’Connor added that Bishop Richard Malone has covered up several allegations, and she could not keep quite any longer about what she called a lack of compassion for victims of abuse.

"I knew that he did not know what I was about to do,” she said. “I also believe he would not consider that I would be capable of doing it."

The Diocese of Buffalo released a list of 42 priests against whom abuse accusations have been made, a list O’Connor said is closer to 117, with some of those priests still serving in the ministry.

"By coming forward and showing the courage Siobhan has shown she has spoken to the world,” said Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney who defends alleged victims of abuse by priests. “She has spoken to Bishop Malone. She has spoken to Pope Francis.”

Garabedian is also calling on the Pope to ask for Malone's resignation, though the Bishop has said he will not step down.

O'Connor is also calling for a change in leadership and says her decision to come forward has been met with criticism and support.

"I was willing to do whatever it took to get this story out and to speak this truth, and I knew eventually I would have to do it myself," she said. "I'm sorry that I brought difficulty upon that building, because I knew what that those dark days are like. But I just don't think we're going to get to a place of light, unless we get through this darkness."

Bishop Malone declined to be interviewed by 60 Minutes, but the Diocese responded Tuesday in a late night email to the media, releasing its own documents — pages of emails and notes between O'Connor and diocese staff, including Malone. In those emails, O'Connor expresses admiration for Malone and his leadership.

The diocese says Bishop Malone is "stunned and dismayed" by O'Connor's comments at her news conference, saying in part, "Her comments directly contradict her comments to him while she worked at the Chancery and even after she left." It goes on to say, "Her comments now are plainly and embarrassingly contradictory."

In response, O'Connor said the "Bishop has opted for needless deflection," reading in part:

"It is quite distressing to realize that the longest statement Bishop Malone has released so far is comprised of my emails to him and my Catholic Center colleagues. There are many things I could say in response to each specific email he referenced or included, but this isn't about me. This was never about me. This is about the survivors, our diocese, our community and our Church.

A statement from Garabedian is much more pointed.

"Instead of discussing the criminal cover up of the wholesale sexual abuse of children, Bishop Malone has decided to attack the integrity of a hero who risked so much to reveal the ugly undisputed truth — the ugly undisputed truth which the Diocese of Buffalo shamefully avoids."

During Tuesday's news conference, O'Connor didn't hide the fact she still cares about those she worked with, including the Bishop. The diocese response was seven pages, mostly emails by O'Connor. The statement did not mention the issues O'Connor has raised.

Survivor advocate and president of Road to Recovery, Robert Hoatson, weighed in on the interview.

"Siobhan O'Connor should be given a purple heart, a silver medal, and any other accolades she deserves,” he said. “We have been waiting for someone as close as she is to the matter to begin to expose what we know has happened in the church for decades."

While local advocates hope this report will generate criminal charges against diocesan leaders, the state attorney general's office, which is investigating the claims of abuse in Buffalo, would not comment on if or how this interview would affect their investigation. The office does encourage survivors of abuse to contact their hotline at 1-800-771-7755.

The Diocese is also under federal investigation.

Bishop Malone declined to be interviewed by 60 Minutes, but the Diocese responded Tuesday in a late night email to the media, releasing its own documents — pages of emails and notes between O'Connor and diocese staff, including Malone. In those emails, O'Connor expresses admiration for Malone and his leadership.

The diocese says Bishop Malone is "stunned and dismayed" by O'Connor's comments at her news conference, saying in part, "Her comments directly contradict her comments to him while she worked at the Chancery and even after she left." It goes on to say, "Her comments now are plainly and embarrassingly contradictory."

During the news conference O'Connor didn't hide the fact she still cares about those she worked with, including the Bishop. The diocese response was seven pages, mostly emails by O'Connor. The statement did not mention the issues O'Connor has raised.