The cardinal said he had received a letter expressing concerns about Timone in early November, though the author of that letter was redacted. Sources familiar with the letter told CNA that the person who wrote to O'Malley about Timone's ministry was himself a victim of sexual abuse by a New York priest.
The cardinal said he had not forwarded the correspondence sooner because he was "away from the Archdiocese for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops last month, [for] commitments in other dioceses, and meetings with the Holy Father in Rome this month."
O'Malley acknowledged in his letter that "today the New York Times has published an extensive report concerning the allegations against Rev. Timone."
Timone is accused of sexually abusing two teenage boys during the late 1960s and early 1970s. On Dec. 20, the New York Times reported Timone was allowed to continue to publicly minister as a priest despite allegations made against the priest, and a 2017 settlement with two of Timone's alleged victims. The priest was prohibited from ministry shortly after the report was published.
CNA subsequently reported that the archdiocese sanctioned the priest's continued college ministry even while he was under investigation, telling a California college that Timone had never been accused of abuse.
In August, O'Malley apologized after reports emerged that his office had received a 2015 letter detailing accusations of sexual abuse against Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, and failed to pass it on to Church officials.
The apology came after media reports revealed that New York priest Father Boniface Ramsey had tried to warn church officials about McCarrick multiple times, including in the 2015 letter, which he sent to O'Malley because of his role as President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.