New York, United States | AFP |
New York state’s attorney general on Tuesday announced an unprecedented settlement with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo that includes secular oversight of its operations following decades of scandal.
The US Catholic Church has been rocked by years of accusations and revelations of sexual abuse committed by priests.
In December 2019, the Vatican said that it had accepted the resignation of Bishop Richard Malone from the Buffalo diocese, also in New York state, following accusations that he tried to cover up sexual abuse.
The agreement announced Tuesday is the first of its kind in the state of New York, under which credibly accused priests must be individually monitored and comply with restrictions, with the Buffalo diocese submitting to an independent annual audit.
The move brings to a close one of eight probes launched into the state’s dioceses, which Letitia James, the state’s attorney general, launched in 2020. The other seven are ongoing.
James said Tuesday that Buffalo’s audits will be overseen by a former senior agent at the FBI.
“For far too long, the Buffalo Diocese and its leaders failed their most basic duty to guide and protect our children,” said James in a statement.
“In choosing to defend the perpetrators of sexual abuse instead of defending the most vulnerable, the Buffalo Diocese and its leaders breached parishioners’ trust and caused many a crisis of faith.”
Bishop Richard Malone, pushed out in 2019, and former Auxiliary Bishop Edward Grosz, will be banned for life from serving fiduciary roles for nonprofit or charitable entities in the state.
Also in New York state, an ex-bishop in the city of Albany, Howard Hubbard, in March 2022 admitted to having ignored multiple sexual assaults against children committed by 11 priests over 25 years.
© Agence France-Presse
