The Buffalo Diocese in its settlement Tuesday with the State Attorney General’s Office made no admissions about covering up for priests who had molested children, but agreed to implement enhanced measures to prevent future sex abuse in parishes and schools, the Buffalo News reported. The settlement, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, bans two retired bishops linked to a cover-up of sex abuses from serving in any charitable fiduciary roles in New York, and requires the diocese to follow through for five years on such measures as a program to monitor offending priests. The diocese did not admit to any wrongdoing in the stipulated final order issued by U.S. District Court Judge Ronnie Abrams. The 2020 lawsuit accused diocese leaders of protecting more than two dozen priests accused of child sex abuse by not referring their cases to the Vatican for potential removal from the priesthood. It also accused Bishop Richard J. Malone and Auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Grosz of misusing charitable assets by supporting priests who they knew had likely sexually abused minors. Malone retired in 2019 under intense criticism over his handling of abuse allegations. Grosz retired a few months later in 2020. Bishop Michael W. Fisher, who succeeded Malone, expressed “deep regret” and acknowledged Tuesday that “those who presented themselves as ministers of God” had defiled their vows and “committed crimes against the most vulnerable.” Fisher also said that survivors of clergy sex abuse were not to blame for the abuse. Abuse survivors expressed skepticism about how much the settlement holds diocese officials accountable.
