Buffalo Catholic Diocese

The Buffalo and Rochester Catholic dioceses are joining together in a federal lawsuit seeking to borrow money from the federal Paycheck Protection Program.

The Buffalo Catholic Diocese says it is accelerating the realignment of its operations because of the coronavirus.

Houses of worship have been caught up in the COVID-19 pandemic. On Sunday, Bishop Edward Scharfenberger announced there will be no regularly scheduled public masses in the Diocese of Buffalo until further notice.

The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo expects it will eventually have to suspend the sharing of a common cup during Holy Communion due to the new coronavirus outbreak.

The interim head of the Buffalo Catholic Diocese is getting some sharp criticism for holding a private mass with several priests accused of child sex abuse.

The archbishop who will make recommendations for a new bishop in the Buffalo Catholic Diocese is searching across the nation for the best fit. That word is from Movement to Restore Trust organizer John Hurley, who is back from Washington, D.C. after a meeting with Archbishop Christophe Pierre.

The Vatican has ordered an investigation of a sexual abuse allegation against a Brooklyn bishop who was previously named by Pope Francis to investigate the church's response to clergy sexual abuse in Buffalo.

The Director of Communications for the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has stepped down after just over a year in the role.

Albany Bishop Edward Scharfenberger will serve as interim administrator for the troubled Buffalo Diocese after embattled Bishop Richard Malone’s resignation. Scharfenberger returned from Buffalo Thursday afternoon. The bishop will be making the commute regularly.

Nazareth College history professor Timothy Thibodeau, who studies the Catholic Church, says it is hard to know what long-term effects the resignation of Bishop Richard Malone will have on the Buffalo Catholic Diocese. Thibodeau says some Catholics will leave the church in disgust over Malone’s alleged cover-up of sexual misconduct by priests, but others will wait to see who replaces Malone and what reforms are put in place.

The Movement to Restore Trust was one of the last to call for Bishop Richard Malone's resignation, as it instead worked to implement reforms in the Buffalo Catholic Diocese over the past year. With Wednesday's acceptance of Malone's "early retirement" by the Vatican, the local laity's response to the clergy sexual abuse crisis is heralding "a new day."

The Diocese of Buffalo has announced the sale of the former Niagara Catholic High School. Niagara Catholic, located at 540 66th Street in Niagara Falls, was the only Catholic high school in Niagara County until its closure in August 2018.

The Buffalo Catholic Diocese has created "a new protocol for dealing with credible allegations of sexual abuse against adults by bishops, priests, deacons, religious, lay ministers and seminarians." In a video message Tuesday, Bishop Richard Malone outlined the "Adult Sexual Misconduct Policy and Procedures," alongside an updated "Code of Pastoral Conduct for Clergy," which are both effective immediately.

The Erie County District Attorney’s Office has confirmed it has opened a criminal investigation based on allegations made by a former seminarian in the Buffalo Catholic Diocese.

The prominent lawyer leading a sex abuse case against a dead priest is continuing his efforts to get the name of the alleged abuser taken off a Buffalo Catholic Diocese parish hall.

A small group of church whistleblowers held a demonstration in front of Bishop Richard Malone's residence Sunday to call attention to what they call the "sickly dysfunctional environment" at the Buffalo Catholic Diocese's Christ the King Seminary.

Two more priests have been put on administrative leave. The move comes after the priests were publicly named in sexual abuse lawsuits filed Wednesday, the first day of the one-year Child Victims Act window.

Three Catholic priests who were placed on leave after making inappropriate remarks during a party with seminarians in April are being reinstated.