WIVB 4
By: Evan Anstey
Jenn Schanz
Updated: May 31, 2018 05:46 PM EDT
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Another priest within the Diocese of Buffalo has been placed on administrative leave.
Bishop Richard Malone placed Rev. Mark J. Wolski on leave after receiving a complaint of sexual abuse against him.
The complaint is under investigation.
Earlier this month, the Diocese announced it was re-opening an investigation into an abuse complaint against Father Fabian Maryanski.
In March, a list was released naming more than 40 local priests who had credible allegations of child sexual abuse against them.
Father Wolski most recently served at Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Hamburg according to a spokesperson for the Buffalo Diocese.
Wolski retired in 2012, but still led Mass as need by the Buffalo Diocese.
The Diocese confirms that in 2003, Wolski was appointed to serve on a diocesan board to review sexual abuse allegations. He was replaced shortly after joining the review board and has not been on it in several years.
According to the Diocese, Father Wolski left the review board because he was consumed with a church construction project.
While he is on leave, Wolski continues to receives his retirement benefits from the Buffalo Diocese.
June 1 is the deadline for victims of alleged sex abuse to file for financial compensation from the Buffalo Diocese through the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP).
Click here to submit a claim.
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I-Team: Suspended Buffalo priest served on child abuse review board
Rev. Mark Wolski accused of child sex abuse
WKBW Bufflao
6:56 PM, May 31, 2018
12:07 AM, Jun 1, 2018
By WKBW Staff
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) – – He was the chaplain at Children’s Hospital.
He was a prominent priest.
He was even a member of the child abuse review board for the Diocese of Buffalo.
But now, the Rev. Mark J. Wolski is just the latest cleric to be suspended by the diocese over an allegation of child sexual abuse.
“After receiving an abuse complaint against Rev. Mark J. Wolski, Bishop Richard J. Malone has placed Father Wolski on administrative leave as an investigation continues,” the diocese said in a statement Thursday morning. “Please note that this administrative leave is for the purpose of investigation and does not imply any determination as to the truth or falsity of the complaint.”
The diocese did not elaborate, but records show Fr. Wolski most recently served at SS. Peter & Paul Church in Hamburg. He retired in 2012 but continued to say Mass in various churches, including Most Precious Blood in Angola, a diocesan spokesman said. Before that, he served at St. John the Evangelist in South Buffalo and St. James Major in Westfield.
From 2003 to 2004, he was a member of the Buffalo Diocese’s first diocesan review board, which listens to claims of child sexual abuse by priests and decides whether victims should receive settlements.
“How neutral could Father Mark Wolski have been to be on the review board to review sexual abuse claims?” asked Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston attorney who was featured in the movie “Spotlight” and who is representing the alleged victim of Wolski.”
“It’s a re-victimization of all [survivors ] of sexual abuse,” Garabedian added. “It’s a spit in the eye.”
The victim, who is still too afraid to show his face or reveal his name, spoke with 7 Eyewitness News by phone weeks ago and said Fr. Wolski abused him from 1968 to 1970 while he was between 15 and 17 years old.
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Rev. Mark J. Wolski retires after serving SS. Peter & Paul Parish for 12 years
SS Peter and Paul Community School, Hamburg, NY
Posted On: Monday, March 26, 2012
SS. Peter & Paul Church and School have recently announced that Rev. Mark J. Wolski, who has served as Pastor for more than 12 years will retire on Tuesday, May 1.
A retirement dinner honoring Rev. Mark J. Wolski will be held Friday, April 27 in the Parish Center located at 66 E. Main Street in Hamburg.
Tickets are $50 and are currently available in the church rectory. The evening will start with cocktails at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m.
A Parish reception will be held on Saturday April 28 at the 4 p.m. Mass. A reception will follow in the Parish Center.
Rev. Mark J. Wolski, third and youngest child of Felix and Hattie Wolski, was born March 6, 1942, eleven years after brother, David, and nine years after sister, Mary.
His education was launched at the tender age of four after he stunned the school principal by identifying the color beige. While attending St. Casimir School during his elementary years, young Mark had wonderful instructors, but an eighth grade teacher, Sister Mary Bonaventure, a Felician, recognized potential in him and nudged him to self-confidence in the academic world.
Mark’s father, who was a Buffalo public school teacher, and his mother, who stressed the importance of a good vocabulary, allowed him to choose where he would continue his education after elementary school. Mark decided to attend Canisius High School and later Canisius College. He then entered St. John Vianney Seminary and was ordained in 1967.
Father Wolski served as Administrator at St. Jude, Sardinia; Chaplain at St. Vincent de Paul Camp; Associate Pastor at St. Barnabas, Depew; Associate Pastor at St. Florian, Buffalo; Chaplain at Children’s Hospital; and Weekend Assistant at Blessed Sacrament, Buffalo. He was Pastor at St. James Major in Westfield and, later, at St. John the Evangelist in Buffalo, before being appointed Pastor here at SS. Peter and Paul in 1999.
Over Father Wolski’s nearly thirteen years of leadership, SS. Peter and Paul evolved physically and spiritually. Father Wolski oversaw the construction of the Parish Center, now the nucleus of church activities and gatherings for all ages, and the renovation of the school library, computer room and resource room. A champion of Catholic education, Father Wolski strove for faith, academics, service and technology in the parish school; he supported both family and faculty, recognizing the importance of both to each and every child. He began the “Tuition Angel Fund” to help parents who were having a hard time financially. He also improved the parish cemetery. Most recently, he headed a church renovation project including the addition of six stained glass windows representing saints dedicated to education and social service.
A past trustee of Immaculata Academy, Father Wolski is currently on the Board of Trustees at Villa Maria College. He has served as a board member of the Permanent Chair of Polish Culture at Canisius College and is a member of the Polish Arts Club of Buffalo. He also serves on the Finance Council and the Council of Priests for the Diocese of Buffalo. He is the Chaplain to the Hamburg Council of the Knights of Columbus. He was honored with the Bishop’s Medal at the 2012 Making a Difference banquet.
According to Rev. Sebastian Pierro, Senior Parochial Vicar at SS. Peter and Paul, “Most importantly, though, Father Wolski touched our lives with his spiritual guidance, warm friendship and sense of humor. Those personal reminiscences in his homilies, those kind interactions with children and seniors, that insightful advice during the Sacrament of Reconciliation, that word of comfort during a trying time – those are things we will treasure most.”