BUFFALO, New York (LifeSiteNews) — Kevin Brun, a survivor of clerical sex abuse and victims’ advocate in the Diocese of Buffalo, blasted the diocese’s recent decision to lay off over 20 percent of its parish and diocesan staff to help pay off its massive $150 million bankruptcy settlement to hundreds of clerical abuse victims in a recent interview with LifeSiteNews.
During a phone interview, Brun emphasized that diocesan employees and parishioners shouldn’t have to pay for the diocese’s decades-long cover-up of abuse and suggested the diocese and the Vatican, which have covered up the abuse for decades, should have to pay the victims.
In an August 6 press release, the diocese had announced that it would let go of approximately 22 percent of its staff to help fund the whopping $150 million bankruptcy settlement it had agreed to with more than 800 clerical sex abuse survivors back in April.
Two months earlier, in June, the Buffalo Diocese had also asked parishes to contribute between 10-80 percent of their revenue to the settlement.
Diocese of Buffalo, Vatican should foot the bill for settlements, not parishioners
“This money should not be coming on the backs of parishioners who went to church, believing that the man on the altar was … doing what the Lord intended him to do, not knowing at all that behind closed doors, he was a pedophile,” Brun said. “The diocese turned a blind eye to (the abuse) for decades. And, now, instead of taking the funds for the settlement out of their own dirty pockets, they’re going to try and take it on the backs of parishioners.”
“And why can’t the Vatican, who’s ultimately responsible for their behavior, why can’t they foot the bill?” he pondered.
Diocese’s official employee layoff announcement
In its official press release, the Buffalo Diocese stressed its commitment to supporting the healing of the abuse survivors and said laying off these employees was the only way to move forward.
“We have no higher priority than to fulfill our obligations to the Creditors Committee, aimed at supporting the healing of victim-survivors of sexual abuse,” Rick Suchan, the diocese’s chief operating officer, said in the statement.
”The very difficult actions we have announced today at the Catholic Center mirror the sacrifices we have required of all parishes of the diocese,” he added. “We are committed to doing everything possible to ease the departure of those staff members affected by these cost reductions, which in no way reflect their performance or lasting contributions.”
Diocese should tap into Mother Cabrini Foundation funds to pay settlement
Brun further claimed that the diocese could easily pay that settlement without taking a dime from parishioners or laying off its employees by tapping into the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, a non-profit that supports the healthcare and well-being of “vulnerable New Yorkers,” which is worth about $4 billion. The Cabrini Foundation was born from the 2018 $3.75 billion sale of a non-profit entity, Fidelis Care, a Catholic health insurer run by the bishops of New York’s eight dioceses, whose president was Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
“Cardinal Dolan, in a premeditated move, placed those funds in the Mother Cabrini (Foundation) so it couldn’t be touched to satisfy settlements and abuse cases,” Brun said. “And that’s just a playbook that these dioceses across the country and across the world have followed over the past decades. All they’re concerned about, no matter what narrative they put forth, that they want to do what’s best for survivors; what they really want is to make sure that they protect their financial bottom line. And it’s horrific.”
LifeSiteNews reached out to the Diocese of Buffalo for a response about the Cabrini Foundation funds, but they did not respond by publication time.
Decades of abuse cover-up
In 2018, reports began to emerge that the Buffalo Diocese, under the leadership of multiple bishops, had been covering for abusive priests going back decades, including then-Bishop Richard J. Malone. The next year, Malone resigned in disgrace after a Vatican investigation revealed that he had covered up the sexual abuse of multiple seminarians and had put a priest who was caught consuming homosexual pornography twice back into ministry, among other charges.
Siobhan O’Connor, Malone’s former secretary, helped bring him down after she blew the whistle on his corrupt behavior during an interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes in 2019.
In 2020, while facing over 900 lawsuits related to abuse cases, the diocese declared chapter 11 bankruptcy, which ultimately led to April’s $150 million settlement. In September 2024, Malone’s successor, Bishop Michael Fisher, also announced the closure of nearly 80 churches and “worship sites” as part of a broader restructuring plan called “Road to Renewal.”
Every priest implicated in the abuse scandal must be removed
Toward the end of the interview, Brun underscored that, for him, this fight isn’t ultimately about cashing a settlement check but about ensuring that the children in the Buffalo Diocese, including his own grandchildren, are safeguarded from predator priests. He noted that, unfortunately, under Bishop Fisher’s leadership, not every priest implicated in the cover-up of abuse has been removed, and there are likely still active abuser priests working in the diocese.
“I’m not convinced in any way, shape, or form that there aren’t still active abusers out there in the diocese,” he said.
“If (the diocese) is going to be restored, I want it to be restored in the right way,” he added. “I want everyone removed who was implicated in the cover-up.”
RELATED
Buffalo diocese to close, merge nearly 80 parishes amid bankruptcy due to past abuse cases
Dissident Catholic website whitewashes Cardinal McElroy’s abuse case cover-ups
Theodore McCarrick, former cardinal, dies at age 94
Contact information for respectful communication:
Diocese of Buffalo
Phone: 716-847-8700
