BISHOP MALONE'S UNTENABLE POSITION

I am posting the following article not because I personally agree with its content, but just to highlight the resentment which is sparking such criticism of Buffalo, New York Bishop Robert Malone.

He has been accused by his one-time personal secretary of lying about the number of Priests accused of sexual misconduct as well as engaging in a systematic cover up by which offending Priests were shuffled around the Diocese to avoid detection and accountability.

Here an example of a recent series of reports which have been published about the Bishop by the 7 Eyewitness News I-Team and reported on the WKBW website.

In April, besieged Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, New York announced he would sell the palatial Bishop’s mansion on Oakland Place to help pay settlements to victims of clergy sexual abuse.

Those payouts will likely cost the diocese millions, and the Bishop has since moved to a former convent at St. Stanislaus Church on Buffalo’s East Side.

But internal documents show the Diocese is already footing the bill for costly rennovations to the Bishop’s new home on Buffalo’s East Side, leading some to question how much of a sacrifice it will really be for the shepherd of Buffalo’s Catholics -- and whether he actually plans to live among his flock.

“He’s moving from a very large home to an even larger home that’s being set up to his specific tastes,” said Siobhan O’Connor, the Bishop’s former secretary. 

She called the convent at St. Stan’s a “gargantuan building.”

“It used to house 35 nuns, and there’s gonna be two men and a dog in there,” O'Connor said. 

Internal budget documents show the diocese earlier this year planned to spend more than $200,000 to fix up the convent — and that was before the Bishop decided he needed hardwood floors in his living quarters.

The largest expense was a $46,000 bill for an addition to the garage and a parking spot for staff — even though a large, publicly accessible parking lot sits adjacent to the complex.

That cost is in addition to $32,000 to install air conditioning in the building and another $30,000 to landscape the yard. 

Other basic items include:

$22,000 for “ramp access,” which one staffer said was to prevent elderly donors from climbing the stairs;
$31,000 for paint, plaster and electrical work;
$9,000 to install Wi-Fi; and
$2,000 for plumbing.

That doesn’t include the $20,000 for security for the new residence — and emails show the bishop’s friends were worried about him living in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood.

The Bishop is in an untenable situation.  Nothing he does will prove to be above reproach.

Still, Bishop Malone has refused to submit his resignation.

But, realistically, how much longer should the Catholic faithful of Buffalo, who have indicated their dissatisfaction and disassociation with the Bishop, have to endure such embarrassing reporting?

For the good of the Church and his own Diocese, Bishop Malone should submit his resignation to judgment and discretion of Pope Francis.

The sooner, the better for all involved.