Bishop Richard Malone is back in Buffalo, days after a report out of Rome alleged his resignation is imminent.

Protesters waited for Malone on Sunday evening at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, but did not get the chance to see him. They assembled there to peacefully protest his return as bishop, but a security guard eventually told them the bishop made it off the property.

They said they aren’t surprised he avoided them.

“He’s been trying to avoid us for a long time actually, since I joined the protestor group last August when we were protesting Christ the King Seminary,” said Tony Parisi, one of the handful who gathered at the airport. “He just found ways of sneaking out without our detecting him.”

“The longer he stays in office, the harder it is for everyone here. And even though it’s a sad motivation, that is motivating because we want change to come, we know it needs to happen, and we want to be a voice calling for it,” said Siobhan O'Connor, the bishop’s former executive assistant turned whistleblower.

The Diocese of Buffalo confirms Malone is back in Western New York after a trip to Rome earlier this week to meet with the Pope and other bishops from New York. Many now wonder what was discussed during those meetings.

This comes days after a reporter in Rome said the bishop’s resignation could possibly be underway and that the Pope has to either accept the resignation or deny it. The diocese fired back at that report saying the bishop will return to Buffalo as the head of the diocese.

Protestors said if that was the case, they wanted to show up at the airport to make sure Malone understands they still have concerns with how he treated clergy sex abuse in the diocese.

The diocese said Malone will send out information about his meeting with the Pope sometime this week.