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I-TEAM: Survivor calls on Bishop Malone to release names and files of abusive priests

Posted at 2:49 PM, Mar 18, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-18 14:49:13-04

An advocate and childhood sex abuse survivor have come forward calling on Bishop Malone to release the names and documents of abusive clergymen in the Buffalo Diocese.

Robert Hoatson, Ph.D., president of Road to Recovery, Inc., and James Faluszczak, a sex abuse survivor from Erie, Pennsylvania, gathered in front of St. Joseph Cathedral, during a Saint Patrick's Day Mass on Sunday morning, asking for more transparency from the Diocese.

"We want to know the names of the supervisors," Hoatson said. He added that he thinks the public should know who knew about each abuse when it happened, and if they were covered up. "If [Bishop Malone] inherited a policy of secrecy and cover-up, well that means other bishops who preceded him were the ones who hid these priests - who took the information and put it in secret archives."

Faluszczak, who says he was molested by his priest over a three year period as a teenager in Erie, spoke about what he goes through being a survivor and calls for change.

"I think Bishop Malone and all bishops must come out and be more transparent and reveal the names of all the perpetrators they are aware of," said Faluszczak.

Malone has been the Bishop of Buffalo for five years.

In a previous interview with 7 Eyewitness News, Bishop Malone was asked why he has not taken steps to reveal the identities of suspected pedophile priests.

“There are many reasons for that," he said. "That’s the policy I inherited. We’ve been studying that very, very carefully and you can expect some news on that next week.”

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