Placed on leave

Retired priest removed due to sexual abuse allegation.

A retired priest who served at churches across the Capital Region and beyond from the 1960s through 2010 was removed from public ministry last week by Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger over an allegation of sexual abuse, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany said Saturday.

The allegation against Father Gregory Weider is related to a Child Victims Act lawsuit, the diocese said. The 84-yearold priest had been serving as sacramental minister at Sacred Heart Church in the Delaware County village of Margaretville, as well as its mission, St. Anne’s, in the nearby town of Andes.

While on administrative leave, he will not publicly officiate at sacraments, wear clerical garb or present himself as a priest, the diocese said. Since his ordination in 1963, Weider has served at the following locations: Blessed Sacrament, Mohawk; St. Anthony, Schenectady; St. Agnes, Cohoes; St. Thomas the Apostle, Delmar;

St. Mary’s, Coxsackie; Holy Cross, Albany; Sacred Heart, Watervliet; and Holy Trinity, Schaghticoke, which was the merger of St. John the Baptist and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Johnsonville, and St. Monica, Valley Falls, the diocese said.

He also served as diocesan chaplain for scouting, assistant national chaplain for scouting, chaplain at Samaritan Hospital in Troy with residence at Our Lady of Victory, and chaplain at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam.

Weider retired from fulltime ministry in 2010.

The move comes one week after a similar announcement involving Father Vincent Ciotoli, who withdrew from public ministry after being accused in a single allegation of sexual abuse that was first reported in a Child Victims Act case, the diocese said.

Ciotoli served at 14 churches and was most recently pastor of two churches in Rotterdam. He voluntarily withdrew in response to the claim and will not publicly officiate at sacraments, wear clerical garb or present himself as a priest, the diocese said. He may return to the ministry if an investigation by the independent Diocesan Review Board exonerates him.