Newark Archdiocese unveils policy for funerals of priests removed after sex abuse accusations

By Jeff Green
Record
March 16, 2014

http://www.northjersey.com/news/newark-archdiocese-unveils-policy-for-funerals-of-priests-removed-after-sex-abuse-accusations-1.743782

Newark Archbishop John J. Myers approved the policy.

The Archdiocese of Newark is rolling out a policy for the funerals of priests who were removed from ministry on sexual abuse accusations that it says caters to both the sensitivities of surviving victims and the clerics' families.

But victims and their advocates say the policy, approved by Newark Archbishop John J. Myers, bends in favor of the offending priests, still providing them a celebratory funeral that all archdiocese clergy are encouraged to attend and in which they are buried in their liturgical robes.

The policy, sent to the archdiocese's 961 Roman Catholic priests this month, requires the funeral Mass to be held away from any churches where an offending priest worked or lived. It also stipulates that obituaries be stripped of photos and the time, date and location of funeral services.

Depending on their restrictions, the priests can be buried in their Mass vestments.

The policy applies only to priests who were removed from active ministry because a church review process concluded they had abused children.

An archdiocese official said in a letter to clergy this month that the policy was intended to protect the priests' families and shield the church from further negative media coverage.

Jim Goodness, an archdiocese spokes­man, said the intention of the policy is to keep the funerals low-key, private affairs, out of communities where they might stir up pain in those affected by abusers.

"You don't want to give pain to them and give more pain back to the community than they've already been through," Goodness said, adding that the priest's family has to see "things cannot be the way they might have thought because of the other issues."

Bob Hoatson, president of Road to Recovery Inc., a group devoted to aiding clergy sex-abuse victims, said the policy amounts to a slap on the wrist for credibly accused clerics. Victims want their assailants to no longer have the status of a priest - meaning no Mass vestments, no titles and no major recognition in their diocese, he said.

Hoatson and some victims were especially critical that the policy allows for priests to be buried in their ceremonial robes, unless the archdiocese had expressly forbade them to celebrate Mass even privately. Goodness said he did not know how many of the archdiocese's 16 or so priests who were removed on child sex-abuse claims have that restriction.

The policy also encourages all priests to attend the funeral Mass. It gives no guidance as to whether the title "reverend" should be excluded from headstones.

"They're not really disciplining them, except if they told the priest he couldn't be waked or buried in his vestments," Hoatson said. "That's a big deal. He's still being accorded the funeral of a priest."

Kevin Waldrip, 63, a Road to Recovery member who says he was abused by the Rev. Richard Galdon, a now-deceased Newark priest who was sentenced to 25 years for abusing several boys, said the policy falls short.

"If they really cared about the victims, would they be burying them with their ceremonial vestments, with such pomp and circumstance and in good standing, when they have violated their holy orders at the most profound level?" he asked.

Joe Capozzi, a 44-year-old abuse victim, said the policy seemed focused on guarding the church from further criticism, discomfort and liability. Capozzi and three other men accused the Rev. Peter Cheplic of molesting them when he was at St. Matthew's Church in Ridgefield.

"He's going to be buried as a priest, he's going to still be represented as a priest," Capozzi said. "I guess our numbers were not enough in the church's eyes for them to say, 'This man should not have this job anymore.'"

In a letter to clergy dated March 5, Bishop Edgar da Cunha, the archdiocese's vicar general, said, "It allows for sensitivity to the family of the deceased priest as well as to avoid possible negative publicity or further embarrassment to the family and the Church."

Da Cunha said the policy was approved by the Presbyteral Council, a consulting body of priests, and by Myers in November.

Goodness maintained that the policy was foremost about the victims - not about protecting the archdiocese's reputation.

Catholic dioceses around the country have been creating and revising policies for the funerals of pedophile clerics since November 2010, when the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops discussed the issue and sent out sample policies from nine dioceses.

Only one of those, the policy of the Diocese of Rochester, N.Y., requires the priests to be dressed in secular clothing. The others allow burial in Mass vestments if they didn't have certain restrictions.

Rochester's policy also says the victim should be kept in mind when selecting a funeral location, going a step further than seven of the policies that state only that it should not be where a priest served. Other dioceses removed eulogies, instructed homilists to be cognizant of victims and expressly stated the funerals should be limited in size.

Ken Mullaney, a lawyer for the Paterson Diocese, said he was not aware of such a policy for its priests. But he said he had no recollection of any of the accused clerics dying yet.

The Newark policy strongly resembles the one adopted by the Diocese of Green Bay, Wis. The only significant difference is that Newark's victim assistance coordinator will not contact the victims or offer them support at the priest's time of death.

Goodness said the archdiocese focuses its assistance at the time when accusations are brought forward, offering outreach and counseling.

Hoatson said he once attended a funeral for an accused priest with an alleged victim, whose therapist thought it might offer some closure. Because the times of the Mass and burial will no longer be published, that option is taken away as well, he said.

Dr. Charles Reid, a canon lawyer and professor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., said the policy should have included contact with the victims. Some might consider the priest's death a time for healing.  Even if others would be angered, it's worth the risk for the archdiocese to notify them, he said.

"What they should strive for is reconciliation and humble service," Reid said. "But what we're getting is distance, coolness and adversary-ness. The tone is an adversarial tone, a distant tone, a clinical and antiseptic tone. In the end, you want to heal the victims."