BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, New York, is firing back at a former assistant-turned-whistleblower who says Bishop Richard Malone should resign over his response to reports of clergy sexual misconduct.
In a statement just before midnight Tuesday, the diocese calls statements made by Siobhan O’Connor during an earlier news conference “embarrassingly contradictory.” It attached emails from O’Connor praising Malone.
O’Connor secretly copied and leaked confidential files she says show Malone allowed an accused priest to remain on the job and excluded dozens of others from a list of problematic priests released publicly this year.
Malone has said he made mistakes with cases involving adult victims but never knowingly left a priest accused of child abuse in ministry.
O’Connor on Wednesday called the bishop’s response to her comments a “needless deflection” from the issues.
