The president of one the region's largest Catholic colleges is calling for Bishop Richard Malone to resign.
Dennis DePerro leads St. Bonaventure University and in a statement released this week, he said Malone is standing in the way of healing as the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo continues dealing with a child sex-abuse crisis.
DePerro said while he believes Malone is a good man, he has mishandled the crisis.
"The reality is that we’re not healing,” he said. “We’re not restoring trust… Sometimes, the most courageous thing a man can do is to step aside and recognize that his voice is no longer being heard and that he’s standing in the way of creating true resolution,” DePerro said.
His statement comes as two since-deceased friars who worked at the school are being investigated for abuse. The university released a statement earlier in the week saying it welcomed the investigation.
DePerro is not the first to call on Malone to resign. Last fall, Rep. Brian Higgins and Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, among others, urged Malone to step down to allow the church to move forward past the abuse scandal. Malone has reiterated several times that he does not intend to leave.