By Kelly Heyboer
The Star-Ledger
December 6, 2010
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/12/archdiocese_of_newark_denounce.html
[Read the complete 5-page statement by the Archdiocese of Newark]
[Newark archbishop shielded at least 4 priests accused of sexual abuse]
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| John J. Myers with the Cathedral Basilic of The Sacred Heart outside his office window in Newark. |
NEWARK — The Archdiocese of Newark issued a five-page statement Monday denouncing a Sunday Star-Ledger story as "incomplete" and "deceptive" for concluding that Archbishop John J. Myers shielded priests accused of sexual abuse on at least four occasions.
The Star-Ledger reviewed records dating back to 2002 that showed the archdiocese failed to notify the public about clergy accused of molesting children and wrote letters on behalf of another priest after learning he was accused of assaulting a woman.
James Goodness, a spokesman for the archdiocese, called the story's conclusions "misleading or outright wrong" and said Myers is complying with a U.S. bishops charter outlining how the church should deal with sexual abuse claims.
"Complying with the charter means a diocese is doing everything it is supposed to do to protect children, to train clergy, religious and laypeople who work with children, and to be open in communicating with parishioners and authorities," Goodness said in a statement.
"The Archdiocese of Newark has passed every audit that has taken place since audits began in 2003," Goodness added. "These audits have been comprehensive and lengthy, conducted largely by former agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
Goodness did not dispute the central facts in The Star-Ledger report. However, he defended the church's actions in each of the four cases cited in the story.
The church's response to the story came on the same day the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests called on Myers to follow the lead of other bishops and post the names of accused clergy on the archdiocese's website.
The Star-Ledger used court documents, church correspondence and interviews to document how Myers handled four cases where priests were accused of sexual abuse. The analysis found:
• Rev. Michael Fugee, who confessed to police eight years ago that he molested a 13-year-old boy, was never ousted from the priesthood. The archdiocese assigned him last year as chaplain to St. Michael's Hospital in Newark without telling hospital officials of his past.
• In 2004, the Newark Archdiocese wrote letters to six dioceses in Florida on behalf of the Rev. Wladyslaw Gorak, one week after learning he was accused of possibly assaulting a woman after breaking into her home.
• Also in 2004, the archdiocese banned the Rev. Gerald Ruane from public ministry after investigating an allegation he molested a boy, but did not publicly notify lay people or other priests.
• In 2007, the archdiocese failed to inform lay people that it found a molestation claim credible against the Rev. Daniel Medina, who had worked in parishes in Elizabeth and Jersey City. The case wasn't made public until a victims group uncovered an alert sent by the archdiocese.
Myers declined to be interviewed for the Sunday Star-Ledger story. He referred questions to Goodness, his spokesman.
In Monday's statement, Goodness defended letters written in late 2004 on behalf of Gorak, the priest who church officials had previously learned "may have had physical contact with a woman" after allegedly breaking into her house.
Two top administrators in the Orlando Diocese had notified the Newark Archdiocese about allegations against Gorak, according to documents obtained by The Star-Ledger.
Since the charges were not definitive, church officials did not include them in the letter about Gorak, Goodness said.
"The archdiocese had no direct knowledge of possible wrongdoing, and so it would have been wrong to make a claim that wasn't definitive," Goodness said.
However, Monsignor Robert Emery, the vicar general of the Archdiocese of Newark at the time, explicitly told any Florida church official who called him not to assign Gorak to a parish, Goodness said.
In other cases, Myers and the archdiocese did not speak publicly about abuse allegations against priests because court cases were pending or — in Ruane's case — because the priest was not involved in parish work at the time the allegations were reported, Goodness said.
In the statement, the archdiocese also defended a decision by church officials to allow Fugee to return to a limited ministry in a hospital years after he admitted to police he molested a 13-year-old boy. Fugee later recanted his confession and his conviction was overturned in court because the appellate court said a judge had incorrectly instructed jurors.
"Under our system of laws, such a decision should conclude a matter, regardless of how any individual, even a county prosecutor, may feel," Goodness said.
However, the court never said whether Fugee's alleged confession was valid. The archdiocese's statement did not address criticism that appointing Fugee to a hospital position violated church rules that permanently bar priests who admit to molesting minors from serving in any ministry.
David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, called on the Archdiocese of Newark Monday to amend its policies to be more open about clergy accused of sexual abuse.
Myers should follow the lead of two dozen other dioceses around the country and post the names on its website of all local priests credibly accused of sexual misconduct, Clohessy said.
"This is the bare minimum moral obligation of every Catholic prelate," Clohessy said.
Goodness, Myers' spokesman, dismissed the idea of posting accused priests' names online.
"The archdiocese believes that it is following the spirit and the letter of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in terms of communications to church communities. We do not expect any change in our practice," Goodness said.
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