NEW YORK (NY)
Crux
Nov. 13, 2019
By Christopher White
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio is strongly refuting an allegation that he sexually abused a minor in the 1970s while he was still a priest in the archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey.
“I am just learning of this allegation,” DiMarzio said in a statement sent to the priests of the Diocese of Brooklyn on Nov. 12. “In my nearly 50-year ministry as a priest, I have never engaged in unlawful or inappropriate behavior and I categorically deny this allegation. I am confident I will be fully vindicated.”
DiMarzio’s statement comes in response to lawyer Mitchell Garabedian, who has notified the Archdiocese of Newark that he intends to sue for damages of $20 million next month when New Jersey opens its two-year “look-back” window that will allow sex abuse victims to file lawsuits without a statute of limitations.
A report from the Associated Press on Nov. 13 based on Garabedian’s notice, claims that when DiMarzio was a priest at St. Nicholas Parish in Jersey City that he repeatedly abused now 56-year-old Mark Matzek when Matzek was an altar boy at the church. The alleged victim also claims he was abused by a second priest, the late Father Albert Mark.
DiMarzio submitted his letter of resignation to Pope Francis in June as required by church law when a bishop turns 75. Francis, however, has yet to accept the resignation.
In early October, DiMarzio was appointed by the Vatican to lead an investigation into the Diocese of Buffalo’s embattled Bishop Richard Malone, who has been accused of covering up clerical sexual abuse of minors. DiMarzio completed his investigation late last month, and his report will be submitted to Francis for a review and findings of fact.
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