NEWARK (NJ)
nj.com [New Jersey]
January 19, 2025
Perhaps the worst scandal across the globe over the last 20 years is the epidemic of child rape inthe Catholic Church – a sin compounded by its repeated efforts to hide it and protect the perpetrators. It is in that context that we now look at the depressing story at Seton Hall.
A priest accused of failing repeatedly to report sexual abuse hasjust been elevated to president of the university, with the apparent approval of the Archdiocese of Newark, led by Cardinal Joseph Tobin. That’s deeply troubling
The backstory: After an explosive Vatican report in 2020 found the predatory behavior of a powerful church leader, Theodore McCarrick, had been ignored by church leaders for years – all the way up to Pope John Paul II – Seton Hall hired two law firms to do an internal investigation about McCarrick’s “influence and actions” at the school.
Thanks to internal documents from that investigation, just revealed by Dustin Racioppi of Politico, here’s what we’ve learned: While McCarrick was facing accusations ofsexually molesting young seminarians as archbishop of Newark, this priest, Joseph Reilly, was apparently part of McCarrick’s inner circle, working as his secretary for a year in 1994.
To be clear, Reilly did not abuse anyone himself. But the investigators hired by Seton Hall found he knew the archbishop was preying on young men and failed to report it, according to the internal documents that Politico describes. Initially, Reilly refused to even sit for an interview, they said. And when he finally did, he admitted he went to McCarrick’s beach house once – but because he’d heard rumors of the archbishop sharing a bed with seminarians, he made sure he stayed in a downstairs bedroom. Reilly also said he made sure seminarians didn’t visit the beach house alone.
In other words, he was well aware of the danger. McCarrick now ranks as one of the church’s most notorious predators: Known as “Uncle Ted,” he would invite more people to his residences than there were beds, then ask a young priest or seminarian to share his bed and allegedly grope them. The Vatican report from 2020 faulted church leaders for promoting him from priest to bishop to archbishop of Newark and Washington D.C., and ultimately, cardinal – despite years of allegations that he was sexually abusing young boys and seminarians. He’s since been defrocked.
And that’s not all: Later, while Reilly was put in charge of young seminarians at Seton Hall, he also failed to report other sex assault allegations made by students on campus, investigators reportedly noted, in violation of school and federal Title IX policies – in one case, dismissing the alleged victim from the seminary without so much as an investigation.
Now ask yourself: If what Politico reports is true, why was Monsignor Reilly just promoted to president of the university under the oversight of Cardinal Tobin? And if it’s not true, why won’t Seton Hall release the findings and explain the move?
The archbishop’s office last week declined to comment, and for the most part, so did Seton Hall. A spokesperson for the school told us the internal report is confidential and they’ve shared its findings “to the extent permissible under Title IX and university policy.” He added, “It is essential to respect the privacy and confidentiality promised to all individuals who participated in the review.”
But they need to come clean on Reilly. They’re asking us to trust them on this. Please. The world is exhausted by the Catholic church’s lies during this epidemic of abuse. Itsleaders have a special obligation to be forthright.
“What does it say to the parents and to the student body itself,” says Shaun Dougherty, head of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), “that the school where they are paying to receive a high-quality education is willing to put a president in office that is known to the school to have already been willing to turn his head when it comes to sexual assault?”
And where else have the enablers and abusers in the clergy landed? Are they in other positions of power around the state? Survivors have been waiting six years for the results of an investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office into clergy abuses in New Jersey. Other states took only two years to complete reviews like this. Why the seemingly endless delay?
The internal investigation at Seton Hall also included allegations against about a dozen other university priests, Politico reports. Where have they all ended up?
In the case of Reilly, at least some current members of Seton Hall’s Board of Regents knew all about his silence on McCarrick and later, other abuse allegations on campus – including its current chair, Hank D’Alessandro, Politico reports. They were on the board in 2019 when these findings were detailed. A special task force created by the university recommended Reilly be removed as a seminary leader and member of university boards for his failure to report abuse, but instead he apparently took a yearlong sabbatical, returned as a vice provost and, this fall, became president of the university, according to Politico.
He was unanimously approved by this board of prominent people like Mary Pat Christie, wife of the former governor. If they didn’t know about all this before, will they stick silently by Reilly now, in the wake of this alarming report? Let’s hope not, if it’s true.
Among the officials now calling to publicly release the full findings of the investigation are Gov. Phil Murphy, whose office last week told us he is “deeply concerned by the allegations,” and Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who’s running for governor. Others are also demanding that Reilly resign, like state Senators Joe Vitale and Andrew Zwicker. Will Seton Hall just ignore them all?