NEWARK (NJ)
Star Ledger
March 7, 2019
By Kelly Heyboer
The heads of New Jersey’s five Catholic dioceses released a lengthy joint statement expressing support earlier this week for a proposed law that would lift the statute of limitations on when alleged victims of sex abuse can file civil lawsuits against priests and the church.
But behind the scenes there is a fight brewing over the bill that could open New Jersey’s Catholic dioceses and Catholic schools up to a flood of civil lawsuits amid the widening priest sex abuse scandal.
Cardinal Joseph Tobin, head of the Archdiocese of Newark, and the bishops and auxiliary bishops of the state’s other dioceses released a rare joint statement Tuesday saying they want to work with lawmakers to eliminate the statute of limitations that would allow abuse victims to file lawsuits decades after they were abused.
“Now is not a time for just more analysis and study. This is a time for action to prevent any future abuse anywhere it might occur. The Catholic Bishops of New Jersey stand ready, as we have for the past two decades,” the Catholic bishops’ statement said.
Victims advocates have argued for years that New Jersey’s current law, which limits civil lawsuits to two years after the alleged sexual abuse, is too narrow and unfair.
Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, the bill’s lead sponsor in the state Senate, fired back at Catholic leaders, saying the church has been fighting the statute of limitations legislation, called S477, behind closed doors in Trenton.
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