BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News
June 3, 2018
By Jay Tokasz
It’s been a difficult past few months for Bishop Richard J. Malone.
A retired priest’s admission in February that he had molested dozens of boys triggered a cascade of other sexual abuse allegations against Buffalo area clergy. It also thrust Malone into the middle of the historical cover up of abuse by the hierarchy of the Buffalo Diocese. As new revelations of abuses continue to surface, some victims have accused Malone of being part of the cover up and want him to resign. Malone disputes the characterization, saying he “acted immediately” to put priests on leave and investigate complaints of abuse.
Earlier this week, The News sat with the spiritual leader of more than 600,000 Western New York Catholics for an exclusive interview – Malone’s first in-depth discussion about the scandal since a March news conference. Malone answered questions about why the diocese paid $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit, what he knew about child sex abuse among clergy in the Archdiocese of Boston and how the Buffalo diocese investigates allegations of abuse.
Question: The narrative of the clergy sex abuse scandal in the U.S., as revealed through lawsuits, is that bishops did whatever they could to keep it hush.
Malone: Some bishops. You don’t want to generalize too much. But I agree with what you’re saying.
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