BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Diocese of Buffalo announced that Bishop Michael Fisher has removed the Reverend Patrick T. O’Keefe from active ministry and suspended his priestly faculties due to allegations of sexual harassment of adults, and inappropriate workplace and ministerial conduct.
According to the diocese, Fr. O’Keefe, ordained in 1996, has most recently served as Parochial Vicar of Ascension Parish (Batavia); St. Brigid Parish (Bergen); Resurrection Parish (Batavia); and Our Lady of Mercy Parish (LeRoy). A canonical judicial review will be conducted to examine the allegations against Fr. O’Keefe.
In April 2019, Fr. O’Keefe was one of three priests placed on temporary leave of absence following an incident at Saints Peter & Paul Parish Rectory in Hamburg. According to the diocese, "unsuitable, inappropriate and insensitive conversations" took place during a social gathering of seminarians and priests that some seminarians found to be offensive.
In June 2019, Fr. O'Keefe and the two other priests were restored to ministry. Former Bishop Richard Malone stressed the following points in his decision to restore them to ministry:
- "First, the seminarians are to be lauded for coming forward and discussing what happened."
- "While there were inappropriate topics discussed, there was absolutely no inappropriate physical conduct by any of the three priests."
- "It was of primary importance these priests were held accountable for their actions. Thus, each has received corrective measures including retraining in the Diocesan Code of Conduct and internal policies."
You can find the diocese's code of conduct here and details for reporting abuse and misconduct here.
