Diocese of Buffalo and NY Attorney General Reach Agreement; SNAP responds
(For Immediate Release October 25, 2022)
After years of investigation, today New York’s highest law enforcement official settled a case against Catholic officials from Buffalo. We are disappointed in the lack of results from this settlement and hope that justice for survivors and accountability for enablers in Buffalo will still come.
According to statements from both A.G. Letitia James and Church officials from the Diocese of Buffalo, the settlement as agreed to does not result in any public disclosures of abusers or enablers does not involve any perpetrators facing trial and does not make any changes to the status quo that ease the effects of trauma in Buffalo survivors or make any children in Buffalo safer.
In practical terms, the settlement adds a new staffer to the hierarchy in Buffalo, a Child Protection Policy Coordinator. We are concerned that the person appointed to this role is someone who already works within the Diocese itself and would have greatly preferred to see a truly independent, non-church-related individual take over this office. Similarly, two previous bishops have been prevented from serving in roles with fiduciary responsibility, but, as pointed out by Catholic officials themselves, are not barred from serving in ministerial or pastoral roles. For two men who were accused of covering up decades of sex crimes against children, such a “punishment” does not even qualify as a slap on the wrist.
CONTACT: Judith Burns-Quinn, SNAP Leader, Buffalo NY, ( 716-826-4554 [email protected] ) Michael McDonnell, SNAP Communications Manager ([email protected], 267) 261-0578 ), Melanie Sakoda, SNAP Survivor Support Coordinator ([email protected], 925-708-6175), Zach Hiner, SNAP Executive Director ([email protected], 517-974-9009)
(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is www.SNAPnetwork.org)
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