Many other Catholic bishops in the United States have found themselves in similar circumstances, but Bishop Malone’s approach may have embroiled him in scandal more so than most of them.

He kept a secret binder that listed priests accused of sexual abuse. He was recorded expressing more concern about his own reputation than about removing a priest whom he called a “sick puppy.” And some of his own clergy have circulated a letter of no-confidence in him as calls mount for his resignation as leader of one of the Northeast’s largest dioceses.

The Brooklyn diocese said on Oct. 31 that Bishop DiMarzio had concluded his investigation into the Buffalo diocese. The inquiry, described as an “apostolic visitation,” involved three trips to Buffalo over seven days and interviews with 80 people, including clergy members and parishioners.

Having completed his interviews, the Brooklyn diocese said, Bishop DiMarzio would prepare a report to be delivered at an unspecified date.

Bishop DiMarzio has a long history of dealing with priest abuse scandals as a church leader.

He arrived in Brooklyn after serving as bishop of the Camden, N.J., diocese. One of his first tasks there was to help settle a scandal over the sexual abuse of children by priests that became public a few years into his tenure. He arranged payments totaling $880,000 to 23 plaintiffs at one point, and fought lawsuits by plaintiffs who would not settle.

In February, the Brooklyn diocese, one of the country’s biggest claiming about 1.5 million adherents, named more than 100 priests that it said had been credibly accused of sexually abusing a child. It was one of the largest disclosures yet in a torrent of lists published by the church as its handling of clergy abuse has drawn the scrutiny of law enforcement officials.

“We know this list will generate many emotions for victims who have suffered terribly,” Bishop DiMarzio said at the time.