Bishop to take on temporary role
Report: Albany’s Scharfenberger will fill in as leader of Buffalo Diocese after its bishop resigns
Albany Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger is apparently slated to fill in as the leader of the Buffalo Diocese following the imminent resignation of Bishop Richard Malone, who has faced backlash for his handling of sex abuse claims.
Both the resignation and Scharfenberger’s move were first reported Monday by Vatican expert Rocco Palmo, who noted that Malone is expected to vacate his post on Wednesday. Scharfenberger would be named the apostolic administrator of Buffalo until a permanent
replacement is found, according to the report.
Malone would be the first bishop of the Buffalo Diocese to resign in its 172-year histor y.
The Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic Church, has yet to make an announcement confirming either move.
Albany Diocese spokeswoman Mary Deturris Poust declined to comment on the reports “unless and until the Holy See makes an announcement.” Buffalo Diocese spokeswoman Kathy Spangler declined to comment.
Malone, whose resignation was allegedly submitted to Pope Francis during a visit to Rome last month, has been a central fig ure in multiple scandals concerning the Buffalo Diocese and its handling of sex abuse reports. Last year, leaked church documents showed more than 100 priests or clerg y had been credibly accused of sexually abusing children — contradicting the diocese’s earlier release listing just 42 names.
Further reports of settlements, secret money stashes and new lawsuits related to child sex abuse in the latter half of 2019 spurred calls for Malone’s resignation.
The Buffalo Diocese has emerged as the most-named diocese in cases filed under New York ’s newly enacted Child Victims Act, which in August opened a one-year “look-back ” period allowing sur vivors of child sex abuse to lodge previously time-barred claims against their alleged offenders.
Scharfenberger, a 71-year-old Brooklyn native, was named the 10th bishop of the Albany Diocese in 2014 following the retirement of Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, who has been accused of both sexually abusing children and covering up similar misconduct by other priests. Hubbard has denied the claims filed against him.
Before heading to Albany,
Scharfenberger had a long history of work for the Catholic Church in New York. He was ordained in 1973 as a priest for the Brooklyn Diocese and worked there brief ly before heading to Rome, then Washington, D.C., and back to New York to obtain several degrees. He earned a law degree from Fordham University in 1990 and was admitted to the state bar the next year, according to his professional biography.
Scharfenberger then ser ved as the judicial vicar for the Brooklyn Diocese from 1993 to 2002; he became pastor of St. Matthias Church in Queens the next year. He ser ved in that role until his Albany appointment in 2014, at which time he was also episcopal vicar for Queens, according to his biography.
His move upstate was met with some degree of skepticism about the way he would handle an inf lux of sex abuse claims against the Catholic Church. Within weeks of his installation, an associate pastor at a Niskay una parish was criminally charged with and later pleaded g uilty to engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old girl.
Just a few weeks later, Scharfenberger issued an apolog y after an obituary for a former priest failed to mention that he had been removed from the ministr y in 2011 after accusations of sexual abuse of minors.
But in the years since, Scharfenberger has taken on a more proactive approach against sex abuse claims and last year called on priests in the Albany Diocese to make a public restatement of the promises of their priesthood. A week later, he invited Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares to investigate the diocese’s response to allegations of child sex abuse.
This year, shortly after the opening of the Child Victims Act look-back window, he wrote, “I recognize and share your sorrow and anger” over new accusations.
“Remember the counsel of St. Paul — where sin increases, grace abounds all the more,” Scharfenberger wrote. “Graces abound for the sur vivors and their loved ones, and for the parishes where they should always be welcome. Graces abound, as well, for the accused, for whom our system of justice affords a presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.”