BY MICHAEL OLOHAN
OF PASCACK PRESS, N.J.
PASCACK VALLEY AREA, N.J.—The names of 10 former priests who previously served Pascack and Northern valley congregations—out of a total of 63 archdiocese priests “credibly accused” of sexual abuse—were published Feb. 13 when the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark posted the names online for the first time.
Of the 10 priests serving in local parishes, five are deceased and five are still living—though no information is provided about current residences, living arrangements or monitoring of these former priests.
Three of five living priests found guilty of abusing minors served at Church of the Assumption in Emerson, including James T. Benedetto, Michael Campanlonga and Robert Stauffer. Campanlonga is guilty of abusing “multiple” victims, which the list does not enumerate.
In addition, Francis T. Malone served at St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church in Old Tappan and Michael M. Walters served at Sacred Heart in Haworth. Malone abused one victim and Walters abused “multiple” victims, with no specifics provided by the list.
Deceased priests guilty of abusing minors included John Morel, who served at St. Andrew in Westwood; Eugene Heyndricks, who served at Our Lady of Mercy in Park Ridge; Charles Hudson at Our Lady of Mercy in Park Ridge; John Komar, who served as chaplain at Englewood Hospital; and Joseph DiPeri, who served at St. Cecilia School in Englewood.
Morel, Heyndricks and Komar are guilty of abusing “multiple” minors, and Komar is also guilty of possessing and/or distributing child pornography.
What lists don’t provide
The lists of “credibly accused” priests, published online, do not provide years the priests served in parishes listed, nor the year that each priest was permanently removed from ministry, laicized or in many cases, deceased.
Statewide, the five Catholic archdioceses released the names of 188 priests who were found to be “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of a minor—79 are still living and 109 are deceased.
Of the 79 living priests who have been removed from ministry or defrocked, no information as to current whereabouts is offered though Church officials stress all names have been reported to law enforcement.
Asked for more specifics about Newark archdiocese priests listed as sexual abusers, a spokeswoman said nothing more would be forthcoming.
“The Archdiocese has no further details available to the media beyond the information publicly disclosed last week, particularly with regard to specific clergy. Our concern for the well-being of victims and the safety of our children remains paramount,” emailed Maria Margiotta, a Newark archdiocese spokesperson on Feb. 19.
The other dioceses—Paterson, Metuchen, Trenton and Camden—released lists of priests who had been removed from ministry or defrocked, described as “laicized” on the lists.
The Paterson Diocese listed 28 clerics; Camden listed 57 names; Trenton had 30 and Metuchen listed 11 names.
State probe launched
Since last September, State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has launched an investigation into the state’s five Roman Catholic archdioceses, following an unprecedented investigation by Pennsylvania’s attorney general that revealed some 300 priests had molested over 1,000 victims during a 70-year period.
The release of priests’ names by the five statewide Catholic archdioceses follows on the heels of Grewal’s statewide probe of priest sexual abuse.
Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, recently defrocked due to sexual abuse of a minor while serving in New York State, is listed on the Newark archdiocese list.
McCarrick served as archbishop of Newark for 15 years and also the Metuchen archdiocese. Pope Francis accepted McCarrick’s resignation last year.
Advocates critical of release
Advocates for abuse victims were critical of the Church’s release of names, noting the list was only released under pressure from the ongoing state investigation and some critics called it woefully incomplete.
Mark Crawford, head of New Jersey’s chapter of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said the list is “the tip of the iceberg” and speculated that the list may only show one-third of the priests involved in sexual abuse.
Crawford notes that none of the lists released contains any priests serving in Catholic orders such as the Salesians, Dominicans, Franciscans, and others that have served in Catholic parishes.
Also, the list does not include any priests—or provide any estimate—of numbers of priests currently involved in civil litigation or under investigation by the Catholic Church for sexual abuse.
Crawford said another omission is that no estimates or specifics are provided for the 33 Newark archdiocese priests found guilty of sexual abuse of “multiple” victims.
No one knows how many victims were sexually abused by these priests, said Crawford, adding that the number was not revealed intentionally to minimize the impact of what he called “predator priests” who were shuffled from parish to parish, condoned by pastors and archbishops over the decades.
Crawford also pointed out that all the lists indicate that any priests involved in litigation are not listed, which means likely scores of priests and hundreds of victims are not accounted for in the lists.
“If the Catholic Church were to release the number of victims, it would stun you,” Crawford said.
He estimated 800–1,000 sexual abuse victims from the approximate 200 priests named statewide.
He said the Pennsylvania attorney general said there could have been up to 3,000 abuse victims from the priests identified but that many victims were yet to come forward.
‘Masking more horror’
“Their [Catholic Church’s] effort to put ‘multiple’ under the number of victims is masking more horror. Why wouldn’t they tell us how many victims there actually are?” Crawford asked.
“I’ve been getting several calls a week for years…it’s unending,” he added. “There is a real issue within our church with predator priests. There is not a parish that has not been touched by this [sexual abuse scandal],” Crawford claimed.
Efforts to reach pastors at parishes where the five living “credibly accused” priests served were mostly redirected to the Newark archdiocesan public relations office.
One pastor, the Rev. Robert Wolfee of Sacred Heart, Haworth, who has been at Sacred Heart for about two years said priest Michael M. Walters, accused of sexual abuse of “multiple” minors, served there one year, 1991–1992 before going to Our Lady of All Souls in East Orange.
“He was only here for one year a very long time ago, but we need to be transparent about these things. Being transparent is good,” he added.
Wolfee said he was upset previously when sexual abuse accusations were made public against McCarrick and penned a column in a church bulletin expressing how upset he was with McCarrick.
Wolfee said Feb. 14 that he had yet to hear from any parishioner on the subject and was not sure then if he would address it in his Sunday sermon.
He said he received only two calls about the list release and both were from newspaper reporters.
“I think the Church is being upfront about it,” said Wolfee. “So long as human beings are involved you can never be 100 percent sure but the archdiocese is doing everything they can,” he added.
In a letter to Catholics posted online, Newark Archbishop Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin said the archdiocese had reviewed clerical files dating back to 1940 and is cooperating with state authorities investigating sexual abuse by priests.
‘Rightfully outraged’
“The revelations of clergy sexual abuse of minors throughout this past year have provoked feelings of shock, anger, shame, and deep sorrow throughout our Catholic community. Victims, their families, and the faithful are rightfully outraged over the abuses perpetrated against minors. Additionally, the failure of Church leadership to immediately remove suspected abusers from ministry is particularly reprehensible,” said Tobin.
“Significant progress has been made to ensure that children are safe in today’s Church. Since 2002, we have implemented Safe Environment programs and measures that have positively impacted how we create and support safe environments throughout the Archdiocese of Newark,” he added.
“Moving forward, vigilance must be maintained. We all must be committed to protecting our children, the most vulnerable members of our community,” wrote Tobin. He urged anyone aware of any “suspected sexual misconduct” to report it immediately to law enforcement and the archdiocese victim assistance coordinator at (201) 407-3256.
Ongoing investigation
Grewal, formerly Bergen County’s prosecutor, urged the Church to continue its cooperation and urged victims to call its hotline.
“While this is a positive first step towards transparency and accountability, I hope this spirit of openness continues during the course of our ongoing investigation and in response to our requests for records and information,” said Grewal in an online statement.
“Despite the recent actions by the dioceses, our investigation remains ongoing because no institution or individual is immune from accountability. We know from the hundreds of calls that we have received over our tip line that there are many others who were abused as children and as adults, both by diocesan clergy and clergy members in various religious orders,” he noted.
Grewal said “we anticipate taking criminal action wherever appropriate and releasing comprehensive information at the conclusion of our investigation.”
He urged abuse survivors and others with information to contact the state abuse hotline at (855) 363-6548, which is staffed by trained professionals around the clock.
One parish healing
At a healing meeting held at St. Therese Church in Cresskill last fall for sexual abuse victims, one attendee revealed her own story of sexual abuse for the first time.
The forum, facilitated by the Rev. Samuel Citero and victims’ advocate Lou Bivona, spoke about the impacts of sexual abuse on victims and how the church was trying to respond to the growing crisis.
It was one of a few efforts by local parishes to address the sexual abuse crisis and engage parishioners after Grewal initiated the statewide investigation.