A couple important points to remember in the big picture\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Canon law (church law) has an entire section (Book VI<\/a>) devoted to penal law. The Church must take grave violations of its clerics seriously and act upon them because \u201cA negative act necessarily must be condemned; it requires a reaction,\u201d a Vatican cardinal involved in Church legislative texts explained<\/a>. Silence (not punishing a bishop who commits a grave offense) would be interpreted as consent of his actions, according to the Vatican official. The Church cannot consent to evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So if there is a determination after an investigation that a bishop engaged in deliberate malfeasance in handling clergy sexual abuse reports, then penalties and punishments, according to church law, are supposed to be applied. These penalties are something the pope fleshed out in Vos estis lux mundi<\/a> <\/em>(\u201cYou are the light of the world\u201d) providing norms for holding bishops accountable in matters concerning the clergy sexual abuse crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Due to lack of transparency, we don\u2019t know if the Vatican imposed penalties on Bishop Malone following its investigation into allegations against him that included repeated instances of putting the public at risk by allowing credibly-accused sex offenders to remain in ministry. Taking an early retirement is no penalty in a survivor\u2019s mind. The fact that no penalties were announced and he could continue in ministry in our diocese as if nothing happened is understandably interpreted by many clergy sexual abuse survivors that the Church consented to Bishop Malone\u2019s alleged malfeasance.\u00a0<\/strong>That is not a small point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Elsewhere in the world, the Church seems to understand the gravity of such actions by its bishops. That is why, following thorough investigations under Vos Estis<\/em> reporting, the Vatican has imposed LIFE-LONG penalties on bishops throughout the world, including here in the US. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, in March 2021, the Holy See imposed life-long penalties upon two Polish bishops<\/a> following investigations prompted by Vos estis<\/em> reports. Both were thrown out of their former dioceses and forbidden from certain ministries including celebrating public liturgies in their dioceses. Each was also ordered to pay a significant amount to a charity that aids sex abuse victims. So far, an unprecedented 10 Polish bishops have faced sanctions from the Vatican<\/a> following Vos estis<\/em> investigations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A month later, Pope Francis ordered the resignation of the first bishop in the United States investigated under Vos estis<\/em> norms, Bishop Michael Hoeppner (Crookston, MN). Held accountable for mishandling clergy sexual abuse allegations<\/a>, Hoeppner was also hammered with life-long penalties\u2013thrown out of his diocese, barred from public ministry there, and forced to accept a reduction in his retirement benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Survivors of clergy sexual abuse in the Diocese of Buffalo expect nothing less for Bishop Richard Malone.<\/strong> The concern about the former bishop’s concelebrating the cathedral’s Easter liturgies is a symptom<\/em> of a dysfunctional organization that on the one hand claims to champion the cause of the most marginalized and damaged of its flock, yet at the same time refuses to be transparent about penalties that may or may not have been imposed on a bishop who so flagrantly exacerbated the damage done to clergy sexual abuse survivors and put the public at risk (as claimed in the the New York State Attorney General lawsuit against the diocese and Bishop Malone).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have talked with many clergy sexual abuse survivors. When they see in a church sanctuary bishops or diocesan officials identified in documents and a state investigation as men manifestly complicit in the coverup of sexual abusers, survivors only interpret the scene as the Catholic Church consenting to gravely immoral actions<\/strong> of these men. It is more than an insult to survivors. It hurts their very souls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, supporters of the diocese\u2019s modus operendi <\/em>in handling such complaints by survivors will often trot out the gospel principle of \u201cmercy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Survivors (and laity in general) expect executives working for the Catholic Church to follow the same moral and ethical standards applied to laity in their workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is not within the realm of \u201cmercy\u201d to let off diocesan executives who abuse their authority over subordinates, coddle sexual molesters, fail to follow minimal ethics in reporting sexual abuse, fail to consider sexual abuse of human beings of any age as a grave evil, threaten seminarians and subordinates, fail to offer aid and comfort to abuse victims, lie to abuse survivors and put laity at risk. Such \u201cmercy\u201d is an emotion, not a virtue, as Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen warned<\/a>, adding:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe divorce of mercy from justice is sentimentality.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Survivors do not dwell in sentimentality. Their pain is real. This is about the salvation of damaged souls and bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UPDATE<\/mark>:<\/strong> April 23, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n _____________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n Header photo: Bishop Richard Malone at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in 2017. Photo credit: Daryl Gronemeier<\/mark><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Former Bishop of Buffalo, Richard Malone, concelebrated Easter liturgies at the Buffalo cathedral. While other bishops around the world are facing life-long banishments from their dioceses for repeatedly turning a blind eye to accusations of sexual misconduct against priests, Bishop Malone appears to face no such consequences. Clergy sexual abuse survivors understandably interpret this as the Church consenting to Bishop Malone\u2019s alleged grave malfeasance. That is not a small point. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7295316,"featured_media":6350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"While other bishops around the world are facing life-long banishments from their dioceses for repeatedly turning a blind eye to accusations of sexual misconduct against priests, Bishop Richard Malone (former bishop of Buffalo) appears to face no such consequences. Clergy sexual abuse survivors understandably interpret this as the Church consenting to Bishop Malone\u2019s grave malfeasance. 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