Was it sensitivity to the victims of sexual abuse or another slap in their faces? The history of the Catholic Church and the Buffalo Diocese practically shouts the latter. And if it wasn’t, then it’s at least a lesson in the price of holding terrible secrets.
The question is how the local church went about acknowledging the deaths of priests credibly accused of molesting children. The 2013 policy implemented by Bishop Richard J. Malone handled those deaths differently from those of other priests, denying the use of the title “Reverend” or “Father” in death notices – though allowing it on gravestones – and prohibiting a Mass of Christian Burial in the parishes where those priests had been assigned.
https://buffalonews.com/2019/03/26/editorial-church-policy-on-funerals-fits-a-long-pattern-of-concealment/
https://buffalonews.com/2019/03/26/editorial-church-policy-on-funerals-fits-a-long-pattern-of-concealment/
