A June 2018 Buffalo Diocesan Review Board meeting agenda included the names of nearly 100 priests whose cases were being reviewed by the Board. It recently came to light that 27 of those priests were never identified, including a former superintendent of Catholic schools, Monsignor Ted Berg, and a former high-ranking diocesan administrator, Monsignor Albert Rung.
It is not clear if the complaints involved sex abuse of minors, but it is known that one complaint accused a priest of possessing child pornography; one priest was accused of sexually assault an adult woman; and another priest allegedly covered up a sexual attack on a victim.
The 27 priests listed on the Buffalo Diocesan Review Board agenda in connection with misconduct complaints are:
The Rev. James Bartnik, Monsignor Ted Berg, the Rev. Gerald Collins, the Rev. George Cotter, Monsignor Joseph Coughlin, Monsignor Edmund Dietzel, the Rev. John Donnelly, the Rev. John Doyle, the Rev. John J. Fox, the Rev. Ralph Frederico, the Rev. Joseph Garin, Monsignor Francis Growney, the Rev. Kiernan Haggerty, the Rev. Francis Hannah, the Rev. James H. Kasprzyk, the Rev. Francis Kealy, the Rev. Nelson Kimmartin, the Rev. William Lanphear, the Rev. Joseph M. McPherson, Monsignor Richard O’Brien, the Rev. Joseph Penkaul, Monsignor Albert Rung, the Rev. Paul Salemi, the Rev. Maurus Schenk, the Rev. CJ Westfield, the Rev. Gervase F. White and the Rev. Maurice Woulfe.
Most of the 27 priests served years ago and are deceased. However, two of the priests, Salemi and Westfield, were active in the diocese within the past decade.
Read the full Buffalo News article: Leaked Diocese Document Reveals Names of More Accused Priests