Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The recent arrest of Fr. Jeffrey Nowak, a priest on administrative leave from the Buffalo Catholic Diocese, has left local parishioners upset and disturbed by the accusations, as well as the Diocese's lack of supervision with someone under their surveillance.
"The fact that someone like Fr. Jeffrey Nowak was on administrative leave for so long, was still getting paid by the Diocese, and was clearly in need of some mental health and nothing was really being done about it to support him, but also the fact that he was still a member of our our clergy is very disconcerting. Especially considering all the issues that have led us to this point," said Nandor Forgach in an interview with WBEN. "It makes you wonder what else is the Diocese hiding from the parishioners itself."
"This situation is truly tragic for the community, for the priesthood, for the Diocese, obviously for the children who were abused anywhere in the world that he benefited from. It's tragic," added Mary Pruski from Save Our Buffalo Churches. "I'm glad, at least, now he will be secluded from the public, and hopefully get the help he needs while he is in jail."
Pruski feels this is another gigantic wakeup call for the Diocese after years of dealing with a number of controversial matters.
"They have touted through the years, including this year, that they have passed their monitoring program with the priests with flying colors. Yet, this gentleman, who still had his priest faculties, was definitely not on their radar," Pruski said with WBEN. "I don't know what the monitoring protocol is, I think they should also release that, and now they need to reform it and add possibly to, at least, a visit from someone, an independent person, to check on a priest's safety and behavior. I think that definitely has to be looked at because, again, they thought things were good, and clearly they were failing in monitoring this priest."
As for Forgach, he feels the Diocese continues to dig a deeper hole for itself with trying to right the ship in a positive direction.
"I've always been someone who has been out here saying the leadership that we have in place, the people we have in place are not the right people to lead us out of the current situation that the Diocese of Buffalo is in," Forgach said. "I also firmly believe a lot of the people that are there are the reason why we are in the position that we are in, and no company, no organization would leave leadership in that got you into that place to fix it. And I think there needs to be a cleansing of the house.
"There's clearly a toxic environment that has been fostered within the Diocese of Buffalo that has attracted people like Jeffrey Novak to the priesthood, and pushed away good priests from entering the priesthood in Buffalo, and it's evident. You look anywhere else within the United States and you see a resurgence in the Catholic faith, and people wanting to enter the priesthood. It's just not happening here, and I believe it's due to the leadership that is in place."
In light of the Fr. Nowak arrest, a group of advocates are calling for transparency from the Diocese and Bishop Michael Fisher, asking the bishop to release details of Nowak's Code of Canon Law No. 489 secret files, which dates back to 2012 when Nowak was ordained.
Advocates call for transparency from Buffalo Diocese regarding accusations against Fr. Jeffrey Nowak
Both Forgach and Pruski feel it should be a given for the Diocese to release the files, especially considering the situation they're in.
"If they're serious about transparency, like they keep saying they are, then this is a step in the right direction. And I think if they release it, it would show they're no longer trying to hide and protect their own, which is seemingly what keeps going on," Forgach said. "It's the reason why we're dealing with the sexual abuse scandal that we are. Because rather than being transparent about it and dealing with it, they hid priests, moved priests around, and protected their own, and hid the truth from the people. So this is an opportunity to take the right step forward, be transparent not just about Fr. Nowak, but anyone else that is still in the system that is problematic."
"I think it's time for transparency," Pruski added. We've had so much happening behind the scenes and not coming out with the full truth. I think they could greatly redeem themselves if they were to release files appropriately with information to the public."
Nowak was arrested back on July 8 in Lackawanna, where he was charged by criminal complaint with receipt and possession of child pornography.
The Diocese of Buffalo published the following statement:
“As we have communicated publicly, the Diocese is fully committed to providing federal investigators and any other law-enforcement officials with any and all background and relevant information pertaining to Jeffrey Nowak that will support their prosecution of the horrendous allegations brought against him. We have shared details of his removal from active ministry, beginning in 2019, and more recent steps to restrict his ability to function as a priest within the Diocese of Buffalo, and also reduce the level of financial support required by canon law for priests removed from active ministry but still technically in the ‘clerical state’.
“Again, the Diocese learned of these horrific allegations at the same time the general public learned of them. Since then, all financial support for Jeffrey Nowak has ceased. Bishop Michael Fisher has furthermore contacted the appropriate Vatican authorities in the effort to now petition his involuntary removal from the clerical state, as allowed for by canon law.”
