BUFFALO (NY)
WIVB 4
March 30, 2018
By Jenn Schanz
[Includes video interview with Mark Lynch.]
50 years after Mark Lynch claims a Buffalo priest sexually abused him, he’s speaking out.
Lynch was raised in a devout Irish Catholic family in Niagara Falls.
“On Good Friday, when Christ hung on the cross, between the hours of 12 and three, we respected three hours of silence,” it’s that tradition, Lynch told News 4, that inspired him to share his story at exactly 3 o’clock on Good Friday.
“In 1968, at the age of 13 I was sexually assaulted by Father Joseph Schuster,” he said on the steps of St. Joseph’s Cathedral Friday.
In the days after the Buffalo Diocese released a list of 42 former priests accused of sexually abusing children, Lynch reached out to News 4 via email.
“When that list came out I was hungry to find his name on that list. And it was not on that list and it was like I was punched in the gut. For some reason that moment made me feel like I didn’t count,” he said.
Aside from stating they are aware of these allegations, a spokesperson for the Buffalo Catholic Diocese would not comment further.
However, a spokesperson has explained that deceased former priests were listed only if they had at least two allegations against them.
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