Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) In 2019, Siobhan O'Connor, an assistant to then-Bishop Richard Malone, broke open the clergy abuse case against the Buffalo Diocese when she came forward with secret files detailing the activities of abusive priests.
In the years that followed she stayed under the radar, until now. She spoke with Susan and Brian on WBEN Wednesday morning. It's her first interview in over five years.
"This was a life changing experience for me," said O'Connor. "I really had hoped that the settlement would be life changing for the survivors. I must admit that I am disappointed with the terms of the settlement."
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O'Connor admits that she has struggled with her faith in recent years. She said she tries to focus on Jesus and the reason she's Catholic. Not the hierarchy.
"It's been exhausting for me, just hoping for change and for true accountability. But it really doesn't seem like much has changed. It's the same old, same old."
O'Connor said she happened to be at Holy Thursday Mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral last week and former Bishop Malone was a celebrant.
"Bishop Michael Fisher welcomed him, and thanked him and was excited to have him there. I thought nothing has really changed here. It's still the good ole boys club. We just know they're not good."
O'Connor said the church closings that have taken place in recent months have been heartbreaking.
"I feel like the priests who perpetrated the abuse never paid for their crimes in jail as they should have. Of course the survivors have been paying for it with lifelong trauma. And now, the people of this Diocese are paying for it with the mergers and closures which are so painful. I'm so proud of the people who have been able to appeal those decrees from Bishop Fisher. But it's very distressing. We're supposedly on this road to renewal, but I call it the road to ruin, because that's what it feels like. The people are becoming financial victims of the Diocese."