NEWARK (NJ)
The Star-Ledger
Thursday, December 22, 2005
BY JEFF DIAMANT
Star-Ledger Staff
The Newark archdiocese placed a Catholic priest on administrative leave a week after he sued the archdiocese, Archbishop John J. Myers and Catholic entities in New York for $5 million.
The Rev. Robert Hoatson, 54, who has served as counselor for Catholic Charities since 2004, will not be permitted to present himself as a priest until the lawsuit is resolved, said James Goodness, an archdiocese spokesman. He will receive his salary and medical benefits.
Hoatson's lawsuit, filed Dec. 13, contends he was improperly removed from his position as a church schools director at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Orange in 2003 because he publicly criticized American bishops for cover-ups related to the clergy sex scandal.
Archdiocese officials say they removed him from the schools job because of concerns about his management, his relationship with the school finance committee, and because he had, at one point, asked to be removed.
Hoatson has counseled dozens of victims of clergy sex abuse, even heading a local chapter of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests. He has been quoted frequently in newspapers, including this one, about the abuse scandal.