Jonpaul Okal, raised in Springville, lives with his wife and children in Wisconsin. Five years ago this week, Okal was working at his laptop on a winter’s morning when he received an email from his mother, in Florida. He opened it, assuming it was something routine. Instead, it contained a link to an article from … Read more
Retired Auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Grosz joins a growing list of American Catholic bishops being investigated for child sex abuse claims or for mishandling abuse allegations. A spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York confirmed that a molestation claim made against Grosz in a lawsuit filed Monday has triggered Vatican norms for investigating bishops known … Read more
A second allegation of sexual abuse of a child has been filed against a Catholic priest who was recently returned to ministry by the Buffalo Diocese after it ruled a prior complaint was unsubstantiated. The diocese allowed the Rev. Paul M. Nogaro to resume practicing as a priest on Jan. 17, after saying it was … Read more
In what has to be one of the most embarrassing displays of a bishop desperately clinging to his episcopal office long after he lost the moral authority to lead, Bishop Richard Malone finally resigned today as Bishop of Buffalo, New York. The only case that even comes close to Malone’s tone-deafness is that of Donald … Read more
About two dozen Catholic Diocese of Buffalo priests removed from ministry due to child sex abuse complaints continue to collect a salary or pension from the diocese. Three of those suspended priests remain on the diocese’s payroll even though they haven’t functioned as clergy in more than 25 years, and six priests removed at least … Read more
Seven people accused the former administrator in a Catholic elementary school in Buffalo of molesting them when they were pre-teen students there. John Curtin allegedly molested the plaintiffs in 1988 and 1989 when they were 6 to 12 years old and attending a Catholic school on Emslie Street, according to a Child Victims Act lawsuit … Read more
The Buffalo Diocese removed the Rev. Norbert F. Orsolits from a South Buffalo Catholic parish in 1968, shortly after parents complained that Orsolits had molested a 14-year-old boy in the back seat of his car at a drive-in theater. But Orsolits quickly wound up in another Buffalo parish. And he went on to molest other … Read more
More Child Victims Act lawsuits have been filed against the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo than against any other defendant in New York State, The Buffalo News has determined. From Aug. 14 through Sept. 16, 138 lawsuits were filed against the Buffalo Diocese, alleging it negligently allowed priests or other employees to sexually abuse children. The … Read more
Contrary to What He Says, Vast Majority of Buffalo Catholics Want Bishop Malone To Resign An overwhelming majority of area Catholics or lapsed Catholics want Bishop Richard J. Malone to resign as leader of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, a recent poll by The Buffalo News has found. Nearly 86% of the 473 Erie and … Read more
It was disturbing enough that WKBW-TV investigative reporter Charlie Specht was excluded from Bishop Richard J. Malone’s press conference last week. Now comes word that Specht and his family also have had difficulties gaining entrance to the church they had hoped to attend after a recent move to a new community. A practicing Catholic, Specht … Read more