Archbishop John J. Myers Addresses Fugee Scandal, Demotes His Second-in-command
By Mark Mueller
A top official in the Archdiocese of Newark — second only to Archbishop John J. Myers — has been sacked from his leadership position for mishandling the supervision of a priest who violated a lifetime ban on ministry to children. Myers, speaking out for the first time on the scandal that has imperiled his future in Newark, described the removal of Monsignor John E. Doran as one step in a series of reforms meant to “strengthen internal protocols” and “ensure we are doing everything we can to safeguard the children of our community.” THE ARCHBISHOP'S LETTER • Myers: Newark Archdiocese is doing all we can to safeguard kids Myers made the announcement in an opinion piece scheduled to run in Saturday's Star-Ledger. An abbreviated version of the letter is to be read aloud at parishes in the archdiocese Saturday and Sunday. Doran, who served as vicar general and moderator of the curia, is among the highest-ranking Roman Catholic officials in the country to be demoted over the handling of a priest accused of sexual abuse, observers say. “This is a very significant decision,” said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior analyst with the National Catholic Reporter and a former editor of America, a Catholic magazine. “Short of being a bishop, vicar general and moderator of the curia is as high as you can get.” Doran is the archdiocese official who signed an agreement with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office in 2007, pledging to supervise the Rev. Michael Fugee, who had confessed to police that he groped a teenage boy years earlier.
The agreement banned Fugee from ministering to children for as long as he remained a priest. Yet Fugee blatantly disregarded those terms, attending youth retreats and hearing confessions from minors in parishes in and out of the archdiocese, The Star-Ledger reported late last month. Earlier this week, Fugee was criminally charged with contempt of a judicial order for violating the agreement. He has since been freed on bail. Through his spokesman, Myers at first defended Fugee’s interactions with children, saying that because he was supervised by other adults, he had not breached the agreement. Days later, he said Fugee had acted without his knowledge. The case has led to national condemnation and repeated calls for the archbishop’s resignation. In the opinion piece, Myers reiterated he did not know about Fugee’s travels and immediately ordered an investigation by an outside law firm when he learned of them. “The investigation uncovered certain operational vulnerabilities in our own systems,” Myers wrote. “We found that the strong protocols presently in place were not always observed.” He did not elaborate on the vulnerabilities but seemed to lay responsibility for the failure to monitor Fugee squarely on the shoulders of Doran.
“As a result of operational failures, both Msgr. Doran and I felt that the archdiocese would be best served by his stepping down as vicar general,” Myers wrote, characterizing the removal as a resignation. “This action clears the way for making more effective changes in our monitoring function.” The job of monitoring priests, Myers added, would be shifted to the archdiocese’s judicial vicar, the Rev. Robert G. McBride. Doran, a Jersey City native who previously served as pastor at St. Cassian Church in Montclair, is the latest in a string of priests and lay people to lose their jobs as the fallout from the Fugee scandal spreads. The Rev. Thomas Triggs, the pastor of the Colts Neck church where Fugee attended youth retreats, resigned under pressure from Trenton Bishop David M. O’Connell earlier this month. The church’s two youth ministers, longtime friends of Fugee, also were forced out. The parish, St. Mary’s, is in the Diocese of Trenton. Fugee was granted a leave from ministry May 2, though he remains a priest. Fugee, 52, was convicted of the groping charges in 2003, but the verdict was later overturned because of judicial error. To avoid retrial, he entered a state rehabilitation program, underwent counseling for sex offenders and, by means of the agreement with prosecutors, promised to stay away from children. The Star-Ledger found the archdiocese did little or no monitoring of him since signing the agreement. His attendance at youth retreats was out in the open, with photos publicly displayed on Facebook. In almost all cases, parishioners said they did not know of his background.
Myers offered no apology for the handling of Fugee, allowing only that “strong” policies and procedures were apparently not strong enough. “Regrettably,” he wrote, “Fr. Fugee’s situation has demonstrated that our system was not perfect. Accordingly we must identify the flaws and fix them.” To avoid similar lapses, he said, the archdiocese would review and, where appropriate, strengthen procedures. Without going into detail, he said he would be expanding training programs that help clergy and lay people alike recognize signs of abuse and show people how to report suspected abuse. He reiterated that priests and deacons who minister elsewhere must first obtain permission from the dioceses they are visiting. Fugee did not. Myers also said he would appoint a special adviser to the Archdiocesan Review Board, the body that investigates whether allegations of sexual abuse are credible. Such panels are composed mainly of lay volunteers. Newark’s board has come under sharp criticism in recent weeks for its recommendation six years ago that Fugee be returned to ministry despite his police confession, in which he admitted he experienced a sexual thrill by touching the teenage boy’s genitals during wrestling matches. Myers made the final decision on Fugee’s reinstatement. Asked if the appointment of a new adviser to the board suggested a reassessment of the decision to return Fugee to ministry, Myers’ spokesman, Jim Goodness, said it did not. The board, whose members are not made public, once had a retired New Jersey judge as an adviser, Goodness said. That official has since died, he said. The spokesman did not say who will fill the position. “We’re looking for someone who can be a sounding board on particular issues,” Goodness said. “We’re not looking for someone to take control of the board.” Myers said he additionally would devote more resources to the review board. He did not elaborate. Throughout his 12 years in Newark and in his previous post as Bishop of Peoria, Myers has faced periodic criticism for his handling of priests accused of abuse. He sought to counter that view in his opinion piece, saying the archdiocese has an “exemplary record” of addressing allegations against clergy. He said he had personally removed from ministry 19 priests after allegations of abuse were substantiated. But he would not name those priests, some of whom have been identified in press reports over the years. Goodness, the spokesman, said individual parishes are notified when priests are removed amid allegations of sexual abuse. To some critics, Myers’ actions, including the removal of Doran, did not go far enough. David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a national advocacy group, repeated his demand today that Myers resign. “Myers keeps making grudging, belated public relations moves and calling them ‘reform,’” Clohessy said in a statement. “That won’t cut it.”
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