CALDWELL (NJ)
The Recorder
RITA ANNAN-BRADY 04/21/2005
CALDWELL The name of the Rev. Gerald Ruane is one that is well known, not only locally but also on a national and international scale.
The former Catholic priest, once director of the Sacred Heart Institute of Healing on Roseland Avenue, and a former professor at Caldwell College, was a renowned member of the charismatic healing movement for decades. He has written numerous books and produced audiotapes, videos and speeches on the practice of spiritual healing.
But, according to the Archdiocese of Newark, Ruane has been out of the ministry since 2002 following an allegation of sexual misconduct 25 years ago that the Archdiocesan Review Board found to be credible.
So when it was learned that the former priest concelebrated Mass at the Shrine of St. Joseph in the Stirling section of Long Hill Township on Holy Thursday, March 24 this year, Michael Iatesta, the alleged victim of Ruane, was moved to speak out.
Through his pastoral counselor, the Rev. Robert Hoatson, Iatesta complained to the Newark Archdiocese about Ruane’s role in performing the Mass.
This was followed up by a press conference hosted by SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) in Secaucus on Friday, April 15, at which Iatesta laid out his complaints about Father Ruane’s actions in concelebrating the Mass and about the alleged abuse that led up to his being defrocked.