The poll asked 362 residents of Erie County and 111 residents of Niagara County for their opinions. The respondents included 267 women and 206 men — all of whom self-identified as Catholic or lapsed Catholic.

Malone had slightly more support to stay on among respondents aged 51 and older, but even those percentage numbers were small — 4.2% for those 51-75 and 4.5% for those 76 and older.

The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 4.5%, according to Cornerstone Research & Marketing.

The Buffalo Diocese includes 571,000 Catholics in eight Western New York counties that have a total population of 1.5 million people.

The Buffalo News poll results echoed an informal survey last week of parish leaders at Church of the Annunciation in Elma, where 23 of 29 respondents (79%) to an emailed survey said Malone should resign immediately.

Tom DiScipio, chairman of the parish’s pastoral council, said the survey results reflected the anger and embarrassment many parishioners were feeling.