The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester has announced the resignation of Bishop Salvatore Matano.
Matano, 79, has served as bishop of the diocese since 2013, when he was appointed by then-Pope Francis.
Pope Leo XIV accepted Matano’s resignation Wednesday morning, the diocese said, and he is slated to be replaced by the Most Rev. John Bonnici.
It was an emotional moment, as Matano and Bonnici sat at a table at the Bishop Healy Conference Center at the diocese’s headquarters in Gates. In giving his farewell, Matano choked through tears, pausing to sip from a glass of water.
“I am deeply grateful,” he said. “I am also deeply grateful to the priests, deacons, and laity who have prayed for me, worked with me, and supported me throughout these years. And to the faithful who have crossed over the threshold into our churches during some very difficult times, always seeing, beyond the darkness, the light.”
Bonnici previously served as an auxiliary bishop for New York, a position he was appointed to by Pope Francis in 2022. Originally from New York City, Bonnici will serve as the 10th bishop of the Rochester diocese. He is slated to be installed on March 19.
Bonnici said he intends to lead with humility and openness.
“As we come together announcing this time of change, we are always aware of challenges to life, faith, justice, peace, and healing,” Bonnici said. “I look forward to working with faith and civic leaders in the community, all persons of goodwill, seeking to accomplish positive and constructive change that respects the dignity of every single human being.”
Matano is originally from Providence, Rhode Island. He has served in various high-ranking positions in the Catholic Church across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, including vicar general of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence and coadjutor bishop of Burlington.
It's unclear what precipitated Matano’s resignation, though he is four years older than the eligible retirement age of 75 for bishops. He will continue to work in the diocese as a bishop emeritus.
Matano led Rochester’s Catholic Church through its greatest scandal. In September, the diocese agreed to a settlement of $246 million with nearly 470 survivors of alleged sexual abuse by clergy in the Rochester Catholic Diocese. That settlement came after six years of litigation.
It was among the largest settlements in New York state for victims of alleged abuse by members of the church. In August, insurers representing the Buffalo diocese agreed to pay $272.5 million to settle with more than 800 sex abuse victims. And in fall 2024, the Diocese of Rockville Center, which covers Long Island, settled with more than 530 victims for $323 million.
Both Bonnici and Matano recognized that moving forward from the scandal is one of the toughest challenges the Rochester diocese has faced. When asked how the diocese recovers, both financially and reputationally, Matano said he hoped that all people, including the victims, could still find faith in Jesus and the message of the church.
“I ask for the forgiveness of those who have suffered so gravely the crime of sexual abuse,” Matano said. “I pray that they will be able to forgive, not me only as a person, but in that process, again see the face of Jesus, and come to know Jesus, and love Jesus."
“We have to always remember priests, bishops, religious, deacons, those in ministry, they who serve the church: We serve Jesus,” he continued. “And we can never, never give up helping people to see the face of Jesus, even in the most darkest of hours.”
Catholicism is by far the most prevalent religion in the Rochester area. According to data from the Association of Religion Data Archives, there were 209,584 Catholic adherents in Monroe County in 2020. Comparably, Evangelical Protestants were the next most common, at 46,140, followed by Muslims at 18,648.
The number of Catholics in Monroe County rose by 9.7% between 2010 and 2020. That rebound followed a drop of 27.2% between 2000 and 2010, a year that saw the lowest number of Catholics in the past 40 years.
