Vatican City, Mar 2, 2020 / 06:15 am
Pope Francis Monday accepted the resignation of Bishop Edward Grosz, the auxiliary bishop of Buffalo, who has been accused of mishandling a sex abuse allegation.
Grosz, who turned 75 on February 16, offered his resignation at the age required by canon law. The Vatican's March 2 announcement accepting Grosz's resignation did not indicate whether it will conduct any investigation into the allegation against the bishop.
His retirement comes following a year of allegations of a cover-up of clergy sex abuse made against the leadership of the Diocese of Buffalo, including an allegation of negligence on the part of Grosz himself.
In September, a priest who was sexually abused as a seminarian alleged that Grosz responded to his 2003 report of the abuse by threatening his vocation. Fr. Ryszard Biernat, who was abused as a seminarian in Buffalo by a priest who was later removed from ministry for other credible accusations of abuse, told Buffalo-area news station WKBW of the auxiliary bishop's response: