NEW JERSEY
Star-Ledger
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
BY JEFF DIAMANT
Star-Ledger Staff
A Catholic priest sued the Newark archdiocese for $5 million yesterday, contending he was removed from his position as a school director in 2003 because he publicly criticized Catholic bishops for cover- ups related to the clergy sex scandal.
The federal lawsuit by the Rev. Robert Hoatson, which was filed in Manhattan, also named as defendants Newark Archbishop John J. Myers, Cardinal Edward Egan of New York, Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, the New York and Albany dioceses and four men from Hoatson's former religious order who he says molested him decades ago.
Hoatson, 54, still an archdiocese priest in good standing, has been a counselor for Catholic Charities since 2004, though he spends much of his time working with people who had accused priests of molesting them.