The bishop praised Whalen's comments, Scharfenberger said to reporters, according to audio published by the Buffalo AM radio station WBEN.
"His heart is so full of a desire to help, and to help us heal," Scharfenberger said. "I thanked him, because I believe that our victim-survivors are an essential part of our mission. They're our family. Their experience and the experience of every one of us is very, very valuable."
"We have to be able to feel that we have a safe space, that we can come together and talk about that and learn from one another, and hear our stories and share our pain, and our vision," said the bishop.
For Scharfenberger, who will serve as both Bishop of Albany and apostolic administrator pending further decisions by the Vatican, the restoration of trust is ultimately a matter of proving oneself trustworthy and hoping that this is recognized. Though he thought the good faith displayed at the symposium was "heartwarming," he compared it to a honeymoon period. Upcoming decisions might not be popular.
"I just want everybody to know that whatever I do, I will do with a spirit of justice and charity and openness and listening," he said. "I don't want to make any decision that does not take into account and does not show respect for all of those that these decisions affect."
Whalen, the survivor of sexual abuse, has advocated for the release of the diocese's confidential files.
The bishop pledged transparency but also said clarity was needed in the release of records which might not give the full context or accurate knowledge.
"I want to be transparent. I want everybody to know what they have a right to know but I want to do it in a way that is clearly understood," he said.
The possible financial bankruptcy of the diocese was a topic at the symposium. University at Buffalo Law School Vice Dean Todd Brown said if the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy it would not liquidate, but rather reorganize.
The Movement to Restore Trust's organizing committee members include John Hurley, the lay president of Canisius College, a Jesuit school in Buffalo.
Hurley said bankruptcy would represent "the fairest option" because court cases would be done all together. He said "everyone will be treated equitably and all at the same time, and it won't be who has the better lawyer, or who can get the first trial."
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In comments to reporters, Scharfenberger said there are many different sides to the arguments for and against bankruptcy. He stressed the need to make the right decision and the need to help people to know why he made that decision.
"It has to be done with deliberation," he said.
"Ultimately this is a spiritual crisis… People did unholy bad things, evil things, and the only way to eradicate evil is by returning to holiness and to return to God, and to live according to the way our faith teaches us to live," the bishop continued.
"It's in God's time when that happens. God has been trying to restore trust with the human race since the Fall of Adam and Eve," he said. "We keep turning away. And God keeps coming back."