The Vatican announced Wednesday that Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Richard Malone of the Diocese of Buffalo, New York. No reason was given for Malone's departure, two years before he turns 75, the mandatory retirement age for Catholic prelates. But under Malone's watch, the Buffalo diocese has become engulfed in scandal over the handling of sexual abuse cases; it now faces an FBI investigation and more than 220 lawsuits, and in one recent poll, 86 percent of Buffalo Catholics wanted him to quit.
Malone was appointed Buffalo's bishop in 2012, and a 2018 sexual abuse allegation against a priest in the diocese set off a flood of more complaints. The list of credibly accused abusers in March 2018 was criticized as incomplete by a whistleblower who said she had found a 300-page dossier in a closet, next to a vacuum cleaner. Pressure mounted in September after a Buffalo TV station broadcast audio secretly recorded by Malone's priest-secretary in which the bishop lamented that a seminarian's sexual harassment accusation could "be the end of me as a bishop," and the seminarian, Matthew Bojanowski, then publicly accused Malone of failing to take action against his alleged abuser.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The six-seven meme that has taken over the worldIn the Spotlight With roots in rap and basketball, the phrase has young people obsessed, and it could be here to stay
-
Five takeaways from Plaid Cymru’s historic Caerphilly by-election winThe Explainer The ‘big beasts’ were ‘humbled’ but there was disappointment for second-placed Reform too
-
A journey through Trinidad’s wild heartThe Week Recommends Experience the island’s natural wonders, from watching baby turtles hatch to visiting an ancient bat cave
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
