Richard Joseph Malone

His Excellency, The Most Reverend Richard Joseph Malone
Bishop of Buffalo
Archdiocese	New York
Diocese	Buffalo
Appointed	May 29, 2012
Installed	August 10, 2012
Predecessor	Edward U. Kmiec
Orders
Ordination	May 20, 1972 by Humberto Sousa Medeiros
Consecration	March 1, 2000 by Bernard Francis Law, William Murphy, and John Patrick Boles
Personal details
Born	(1946-03-19) March 19, 1946 Salem, Massachusetts
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church
Previous post(s)	Auxiliary Bishop of Boston Bishop of Portland in Maine (2004–2012)
Motto	LIVE THE TRUTH IN LOVE

Styles of Richard Joseph Malone
Reference style	His Excellency The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Bishop

Richard Joseph Malone (born March 19, 1946) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and the current Bishop of Buffalo, New York.

Biography

Richard Malone was born in Salem, Massachusetts, and raised in Hamilton and Beverly; he has one sister, Harriet, who teaches art at St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers. He graduated from St. John's Prep in 1964, and then attended Cardinal O'Connell Seminary and St. John's Seminary in Boston, where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Arts degree in Theology. Malone was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Humberto Medeiros on May 20, 1972, and then served as associate pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Stoneham until 1974.

He taught at St. Clement High School in Medford (1974–1976) and at Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood (1976–1979), where he also served as a chaplain. In 1979, Malone joined the faculty of St. John Seminary, his alma mater, teaching religious and theological studies and serving as registrar and dean until 1990. In addition to his duties at the seminary, he was also a part-time chaplain at Wellesley and Regis Colleges, and a teacher at Emmanuel College. He obtained his doctorate in theology from Boston University in 1981, and his Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in 1990.

He was assigned to the Harvard-Radcliffe Catholic Student Center in 1990 as well, as chaplain of St. Paul Parish. Within the Archdiocese of Boston, he was made Director of the Office of Religious Education in 1993 and Secretary for Education in 1995.

Auxiliary Bishop of Boston

On January 27, 2000, Malone was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Boston and Titular Bishop of Aptuca by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on March 1, 2001, from Bernard Cardinal Law, with Bishops William Francis Murphy and John Boles serving as co-consecrators.

Bishop of Portland

Malone was later appointed the eleventh Bishop of Portland in Maine on February 10, 2004, and was formally installed on March 31.

He sits on the Committee for Evangelization of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and serves as chair-elect of its Committee on Catechesis. The Bishop has produced and hosted programs for CatholicTV. The Bishop is also a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus.

Bishop of Buffalo

On May 29, 2012, Malone was appointed ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo. He was later appointed apostolic administrator of Portland in Maine until such time as a permanent replacement was installed. He was installed in Buffalo in a ceremony at St. Joseph Cathedral on Friday, August 10, 2012.

Handling of reports of sex abuse

On September 12, 2018, leaked church records showed that there were 106 clergy in the Diocese of Buffalo who had been credibly accused of sexually abusing children, far more than a list of 42 which had been released by Malone's Diocese in March of the year. Malone, along with many other former Bishops, has also been accused of shielding some of these "predator priests," as well as at least one nun, from potential prosecution and transferring some to other parishes to avoid scrutiny.

In August 2018, it was revealed that Malone had returned at least one "predator priest" to active ministry. Father Art Smith had had a number of accusations of sexual misconduct made against him. He allegedly had a reputation for inappropriate behavior at a school where he worked, and the principal complained to the archdiocese. Malone's predecessor as Bishop of Buffalo, Bishop Edward Kmiec, removed him from active ministry. Documents show that Malone returned Smith to ministry shortly after becoming Bishop of Buffalo. He then misled others about his history and allowed him to be placed into close contact and proximity with minors. Malone took no action after three new allegations emerged. In 2015, Malone wrote concerning Smith, "I am unaware of anything in his background which would render him unsuitable to work with minor children." He wrote a similar letter the following year.

A few clergy on the list who were still active in ministry have been suspended. On September 28, Malone named Steven L. Halter, a former agent in the FBI's Buffalo Division who took part in the investigations of the 9/11 World Trade Center and USS Cole attacks committed by the Islamic terrorist organization Al Qaeda and who served as senior accounting officer at Empire of America Federal Savings Bank, Buffalo beforehand, director of the Diocese's newly created Office of Personal Responsibility, which handles sex abuse complaints in the Diocese.

Father Robert Yetter was pastor of Saint Mary's Parish in the Buffalo diocese. He was accused by multiple adults of sexual misconduct. No accusations of physical abuse against minors emerged, although one alleged victim claimed that Yetter began grooming him in second grade. According to documents obtained by CNN, in 2017, the Diocese of Buffalo had Yetter undergo counseling and sent him on a mission trip abroad, but took no further action. Yetter wrote a letter to the diocese cautioning it against removing him, arguing that doing so would have a negative impact on diocesan finances, as the St. Mary's Parish made up one of the largest contributing parishes in the diocese. In January 2018, Malone wrote a letter in response to Yetter. Malone thanked him for his "faithful and effective ministry" and allowed him to remain in active ministry. Yetter was finally forced to resign and was placed on administrative leave in August after yet another allegation.

Malone stated that he had handled accusations of misconduct against adults differently than those against minors. "Let me be clear. My handling of recent claims from some of our parishioners concerning sexual misconduct with adults unquestionably has fallen short of the standard to which you hold us, and to which we hold ourselves," he said. "We can do better. We will do better." Communications director Kath Sprangler stated that the reason Yetter was not on the list of 42 allegedly abusive priests was because that list pertained exclusively to those accused of perpetrating abuse against minors. Sprangler also said that while there was "stringent and effective protocol" for handling allegations of abuse against minors, there was not yet "a parallel protocol for the allegation of misconduct with adults. We are in the process of generating one at this time."

In September 2019, a leaked audio recording of Malone revealed that he transferred 40 percent of donations sent to Catholic charities in the Diocese of Buffalo to a secret protection foundation known as "The Bishop's Fund for the Faith." On 24 September 2019, following the start of a criminal investigation brought against Diocese priest Rev. Jeffrey Novak, Malone published an Adult Sexual Misconduct Policy and Procedures and a new Code of Pastoral Conduct for Clergy.

See also

• Catholic Church hierarchy
• Catholic Church in the United States
• Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
• List of Catholic bishops of the United States
• Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops

External links

• Diocese of Buffalo