Richard Joseph Malone

Richard Joseph Malone (born March 19, 1946) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who was Bishop of Buffalo, New York, from 2012 to 2019 when he resigned following an investigation into his handling of sex abuse cases in the diocese.

His Excellency, The Most Reverend

Richard Joseph Malone
Bishop emeritus of Buffalo
ArchdioceseNew York
DioceseBuffalo
AppointedMay 29, 2012
InstalledAugust 10, 2012
Term endedDecember 4, 2019
PredecessorEdward U. Kmiec
Orders
OrdinationMay 20, 1972
by Humberto Medeiros
ConsecrationMarch 1, 2000
by Bernard Francis Law, William Murphy, and John Patrick Boles
Personal details
Born (1946-03-19) March 19, 1946
Salem, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
DenominationRoman Catholic Church
Previous post
MottoLive the truth in love
Styles of
Richard Joseph Malone
Reference style
Spoken styleYour Excellency
Religious styleBishop

Early life and ministry

Richard Malone was born in Salem, Massachusetts, and raised in Hamilton and Beverly; he has one sister. He graduated from St. John's Prep in 1964, and then attended Cardinal O'Connell Seminary and St. John's Seminary in Boston, where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Arts degree in Theology.

Malone was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Humberto Medeiros on May 20, 1972, and then served as associate pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Stoneham until 1974.

Malone taught at St. Clement High School in Medford (1974–1976) and at Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood (1976–1979), where he also served as a chaplain. In 1979, Malone joined the faculty of St. John Seminary, his alma mater, teaching religious and theological studies and serving as registrar and dean until 1990. In addition to his duties at the seminary, he was also a part-time chaplain at Wellesley and Regis Colleges, and a teacher at Emmanuel College. He obtained his doctorate in theology from Boston University in 1981, and his Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in 1990.

He was assigned to the Harvard-Radcliffe Catholic Student Center in 1990 as well, as chaplain of St. Paul Parish. Within the Archdiocese of Boston, he was made Director of the Office of Religious Education in 1993 and Secretary for Education in 1995. He is a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus, and a Knight Commander with Star of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.[1]

Episcopal career

Auxiliary Bishop of Boston

On January 27, 2000, Malone was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Boston and Titular Bishop of Aptuca by Pope John Paul II.[2] He received his episcopal consecration on March 1, 2001, from Cardinal Bernard Law, with Bishops William Francis Murphy and John Boles as co-consecrators.

Bishop of Portland

Malone was appointed the eleventh Bishop of Portland in Maine on February 10, 2004,[3] and was installed on March 31.

As of September 2011, he served as chairman of the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).[4] He has produced and hosted programs for CatholicTV.

Bishop of Buffalo

On May 29, 2012, Malone was appointed Bishop of Buffalo, New York.[5] He was later appointed apostolic administrator of Portland in Maine pending the appointment of a permanent replacement.[6] He was installed in Buffalo at St. Joseph Cathedral on August 10, 2012.[7]

As of January 2014, he was chairman of the USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth. On February 4, 2015, he issued a letter condemning Fifty Shades of Grey on the eve of its release in theaters, using the occasion to remind his readers of "the beauty of the Church's teaching on the gift of sexual intimacy in marriage, the great dignity of women, and the moral reprehensibility of all domestic violence and sexual exploitation."[8]

Sexual abuse cases

On September 12, 2018, leaked church records showed that there were 106 clergy in the Diocese of Buffalo who had been credibly accused of sexually abusing children, far more than a list of 42 which had been released by Malone's Diocese in March of the year.[9] Malone, along with many other former Bishops, has also been accused of shielding some of these "predator priests," as well as at least one nun, from potential prosecution and transferring some to other parishes to avoid scrutiny.[10][11]

In August 2018, WKBW-TV reported that Malone had returned at least one accused priest to active ministry. Several accusations of sexual misconduct were made against Father Art Smith. He allegedly had a reputation for inappropriate behavior at a school where he worked, and the principal complained to the archdiocese. Malone's predecessor as Bishop of Buffalo, Edward Kmiec, removed Smith from active ministry. Malone returned Smith to ministry shortly after becoming Bishop of Buffalo. Malone then misled others about Smith's history and allowed him to be placed in unsupervised contact with minors. Malone asked Smith not to wear clerical attire, offer sacraments, or say Mass publicly, though it was not a canonical sentence or decree. In 2015, Malone restored Smith's ability to offer sacraments publicly and wrote concerning him, "I am unaware of anything in his background which would render him unsuitable to work with minor children." He wrote a similar letter the following year. Smith was sent to live in a parish rectory, and suspended by the diocese in 2017, pending investigation of a new substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of minors.[12]

A few clergy on the list who were still active in ministry have been suspended.[13][14][15] On September 28, Malone named Steven L. Halter, a former agent in the FBI's Buffalo Division, director of the Diocese's newly created Office of Personal Responsibility, which handles sex abuse complaints in the Diocese.[16][17]

Father Robert Yetter was pastor of Saint Mary's Parish in the Buffalo diocese. He was accused by multiple adults of sexual misconduct. One alleged victim said that Yetter began grooming him in second grade. According to documents obtained by CNN, in 2017, the Diocese of Buffalo had Yetter undergo counseling and sent him on a mission trip abroad. Yetter wrote a letter to the diocese cautioning it against removing him, arguing that doing so would have a negative impact on diocesan finances, as the St. Mary's Parish made up one of the largest contributing parishes in the diocese. In January 2018, Malone wrote a letter in response to Yetter, thanking him for his "faithful and effective ministry", and permitted him to continue preaching. Yetter was forced to resign in August 2018, and was placed on administrative leave after yet another allegation.[10]

Malone stated that he had handled accusations of misconduct against adults differently than those against minors. "Let me be clear. My handling of recent claims from some of our parishioners concerning sexual misconduct with adults unquestionably has fallen short of the standard to which you hold us, and to which we hold ourselves," he said. "We can do better. We will do better." Communications director Kath Sprangler stated that the reason Yetter was not on the list of 42 allegedly abusive priests was because that list pertained exclusively to those accused of perpetrating abuse against minors. Sprangler also said that while there was "stringent and effective protocol" for handling allegations of abuse against minors, there was not yet "a parallel protocol for the allegation of misconduct with adults. We are in the process of generating one at this time."[10]

In September 2019, leaked audio recordings of Malone revealed that he diverted 40 percent of donations sent to Catholic charities in the Diocese of Buffalo to a foundation known as "The Bishop's Fund for the Faith."[18] A leaked document from one of Malone's meetings with other members on the board of the local Catholic charities also revealed that the foundation was included in the Diocese's budget as a separate corporate entity which helps protect the Diocese of Buffalo from being vulnerable to payments stemming from lawsuits and bankruptcy.[18]

On September 24, 2019, following the start of a criminal investigation brought against Diocese priest Jeffrey Novak,[19][20] Malone published an Adult Sexual Misconduct Policy and Procedures and a new Code of Pastoral Conduct for Clergy.[20][21][22]

On May 6, 2020, months after his resignation as Bishop of Buffalo, it was revealed that Malone "quietly put" accused priest Fr. Paul Salemi "on administrative leave in 2012," but then allowed the Diocese of Buffalo to keep Salemi "on the diocesan payroll" after Salemi moved to the South.[23] Salemi was never laicized, and he did not stop receiving payment from the Diocese of Buffalo until payment to 23 accused Diocese of Buffalo clergy, including Salemi, ended the previous week.[23]

Investigation and resignation

In October 2019, the Congregation for Bishops assigned Brooklyn's Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio to conduct an investigation of the Buffalo Diocese.[24]

Pope Francis accepted Malone's resignation on December 4, 2019.[25][26] He named Albany's Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger the apostolic administrator of the Diocese, with authority to manage its affairs pending the appointment of a successor to Malone.[25][27] 60 Minutes Overtime reported that Malone's resignation was linked to leaked sex abuse documents which were reported by 60 Minutes journalist Bill Whitaker in 2018.[28] On December 10, Malone said he submitted his resignation early so the Diocese could "move forward" and added: "It's just the right thing to do, and I'll still be living in the Buffalo area because I'm still a Bishop in good standing, so you'll see me around."[29]

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See also

References
  1. "Bishop Malone's Curriculum Vitae | Diocese of Buffalo". www.buffalodiocese.org. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  2. "Rinunce e Nomine, 27.01.2000" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. January 27, 2000. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  3. "Rinunce e Nomine, 10.02.2002" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. February 10, 2004. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  4. "Catechetical Sunday 2011". www.usccb.org. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  5. "Rinunce e Nomine, 29.05.2012" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. May 29, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  6. "| Diocese of Portland". portlanddiocese.org. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  7. "Most. Rev. Richard J. Malone Appointed Bishop Of Buffalo". May 29, 2012. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  8. Malone, Richard (February 4, 2015). "Bishop Malone Letter to Bishops Fifty Shades of Grey" (PDF). usccb.org.
  9. "7 I-TEAM: Secret database of accused priests". WKBW. September 12, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  10. Flores, Rosa; Conlon, Kevin (September 25, 2018). "Secret files suggest Catholic bishop shielded alleged 'predator priests' from the public". CNN. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  11. "I-Team: The 85 accused Buffalo Catholic clergy". WKBW. July 10, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  12. Specht, Charlie (August 22, 2018). "7-I Team: Buffalo Bishop Malone Returned Priest to Ministry After Allegations involving a Child". WKBW. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  13. Mroziak, Michael. "Four more priests placed on leave by Diocese of Buffalo, one reinstated". news.wbfo.org. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  14. "Suspended priest a Dunkirk native | News, Sports, Jobs - Observer Today". Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  15. "Ellicottville priest Mierzwa suspended for abuse". WKBW. September 24, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  16. "Diocese hires ex-FBI agent, SBU grad to review sex abuse complaints", Olean (NY) Times Herald, September 29, 2018.
  17. "Buffalo Catholic Diocese hires ex-FBI agent / BISHOP: Former federal agent will oversee new Office of Professional Responsibility", Lockport (NY) Union-Sun & Journal, September 28, 2018.
  18. "I-TEAM: Is the Diocese of Buffalo hiding money?". WKBW. September 20, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  19. "Erie County DA now investigating allegations brought by former seminarian". WKBW. September 23, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  20. "Buffalo Diocese releasing new policies for how it handles sex abuse claims". News 4 Buffalo. September 24, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  21. "Bishop Malone Discusses Investigations, CVA Lawsuits in 1-on-1". spectrumlocalnews.com. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  22. "Protecting God's Children | Diocese of Buffalo". www.buffalodiocese.org. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  23. Specht, Charlie (May 6, 2020). "Buffalo Diocese quietly removed and paid priest accused of sexual misconduct". WKBW. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  24. "Brooklyn's Bishop DiMarzio to lead Vatican investigation of Bishop Richard Malone and the Diocese of Buffalo". Catholic News Agency. October 3, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  25. "Resignations and Appointments, 04.12.2019" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  26. Otterman, Sharon (December 4, 2019). "Buffalo Bishop Resigns After Scandal Over Secret List of Abusive Priests". New York Times. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  27. Harlan, Chico (December 4, 2019). "Buffalo Bishop Malone resigns following accusations that he mishandled sex abuse cases". Washington Post. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  28. "Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo resigns after leaked records, reported on by 60 Minutes". 60 Minutes Overtime. December 8, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  29. Tuskes, Marlee; Licastro, Troy (December 10, 2019). "Exclusive: Former Bishop Richard Malone speaks out for first time since stepping down". WIVB. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Edward U. Kmiec		 Bishop of Buffalo
2012–2019		 Succeeded by
Sede vacante
Preceded by
Joseph John Gerry, OSB		 Bishop of Portland
2004–2012		 Succeeded by
Robert Deeley
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