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Diocese of Buffalo Whistleblower Calls for Removal of Auxiliary Bishop

September 17th, 2019
Image of WIVB's interview with Barry Covert regarding Diocese of Buffalo whistleblower calls for removal of Buffalo Auxiliary Bishop

WIVB News 4 recently interviewed Fr. Ryszard Biernat regarding Fr. Biernat’s call for the removal of Diocese of Buffalo Auxiliary Bishop, Edward Grosz.  Fr. Biernat was joined by his attorney, Barry Covert, for the interview with WIVB.

The Diocese of Buffalo has been the focus of extensive media coverage over the past year for its handling of clergy sexual abuse allegations.  Fr. Biernat has been featured in local and national media recently as a second whistleblower from the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.  Prior to taking a personal leave of absence in August, Fr. Ryszard Biernat served as Bishop Richard Malone’s secretary and diocesan vice chancellor for the Diocese of Buffalo.

As detailed in a previous post, Fr. Biernat was concerned about Bishop Richard Malone’s handling of allegations of misconduct against a priest within the Diocese of Buffalo. This concern prompted Fr. Biernat to record Bishop Malone to expose how the Diocese of Buffalo was handling the allegations of misconduct.
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The Buffalo News Reports on Bishop Richard Malone Press Conference

September 9th, 2019

Attorney Barry Covert provided comment for an article published in The Buffalo News regarding a recent news conference given by Bishop Richard Malone of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.  This is the first press conference Bishop Malone has given since November 2018.

The Buffalo New article states that Bishop Malone faced renewed criticism for his handling of clergy sexual abuse cases in August, when the Child Victim Act’s Look-Back Window took effect. However, this press conference, which took place on September 4th, was held to address reports of how Bishop Malone handled a different matter of clergy misconduct

Earlier in the day, ABC News and WKBW published stories regarding a second whistleblower who came forward due to concerns over Bishop Richard Malone. As detailed in a previous post, the whistleblower is Fr. Ryszard Biernat, who served as Bishop Malone’s secretary and diocesan vice chancellor. Fr. Biernat is represented by attorney Barry Covert.

Fr. Biernat began to record Bishop Malone due to the way he handled allegations made against a parish pastor within the Buffalo Diocese, Fr. Jeffrey Nowak. Fr. Nowak was accused of misconduct and sexual harassment by a seminarian within the Buffalo Diocese, Matthew Bojanowski. Matthew Bojanowski is also represented by Barry Covert.
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Diocese of Buffalo Whistleblower Exposes Handling of Misconduct Allegations Against Clergy

September 4th, 2019

ABC News as well as local affiliate WKBW recently published their latest story in the ongoing reporting of how sexual abuse and harassment allegations against clergy are handled in the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.

The latest report details recordings made by a second whistleblower who has come forward due to concerns over Bishop Richard Malone and information he concealed regarding misconduct allegations made against a parish pastor within the Diocese of Buffalo.

The whistleblower is Fr. Ryszard Biernat, who served as Bishop Malone’s secretary and diocesan vice chancellor.  Fr. Biernat is represented by attorney Barry Covert.  Mr. Covert provided comment for stories published by ABC News and WKBW 7 Eyewitness News.

As reported by ABC News and WKBW, Fr. Biernat was compelled to begin recording meetings with Bishop Richard Malone due to the way he addressed misconduct and sexual harassment allegations made against Fr. Jeffrey Nowak. Fr. Nowak served as pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians, a parish in the Buffalo Diocese. Allegations against Fr. Nowak were made by a seminarian within the Diocese of Buffalo, Matthew Bojanowski. Mr. Bojanowski is also represented by Barry Covert.
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