Five Disturbing Things We Learned from the Catholic Church’s List of 188 Alleged Sexual Abusers in N.J.

By Stephen Stirling
Star Ledger
February 14, 2019

https://www.nj.com/data/2019/02/five-disturbing-things-we-learned-from-the-catholic-churchs-list-of-188-alleged-sexual-abusers-in-nj.html

The list spans nearly a century. It reaches across every corner of the state. And it reveals a tangled web of abuse allegedly carried out by scores of priests, some of whom were apparently shuffled from parish to parish.

The five Catholic Dioceses’ release of 188 priests and deacons who were credibly accused of sexually abusing children reverberates across generations of Catholics both in New Jersey and across the country, once again confronted with disheartening allegations against church leaders amid an ever-deepening scandal.

Even as details remain scant, an analysis of the information released by the Catholic Church Wednesday reveals what many expected — that in New Jersey, and, as has been shown elsewhere, allegations of sexual abuse date back decades and come out of every diocese and dozens of parishes.

Here are some of the key takeaways from our reporting, thus far.

Hundreds of victims

While very few details have been released about how many people came forward with abuse allegations, data shows 57 of the clergymen named by the church Wednesday have multiple accusers.

Taken with others that have a single accuser and the nearly half for whom no information was released, there are at least 245 alleged victims. The actual number is likely far higher.

The priests and deacons named by the church were ordained between 1915 and 2017, showing that the issue of sexual abuse in the church is not a recent phenomenon.

Since priests generally serve for decades, it is likely that Catholic Church in New Jersey has had someone within the church potentially abusing children since before World War I.

Endless movement

All but the Diocese of Trenton released information on the parishes, schools and other church-associated groups served by those accused of abuse.

Data shows priests and deacons were shifting between parishes at a constant rate, ping-ponging around the state, country and the globe before dying or being forcibly removed from the ministry. From what information is currently available, dozens served at least ten separate parishes during their career with the church.

Clusters of problematic priests

The data, which is not complete, also shows some parishes were served by more than half a dozen separate clergymen accused of abusing children.

The groupings take different forms. Some, like at Holy Trinity in Westfield, show parishes that were served by accused priests, with more than one accused priest serving the same parish at the same time. Immaculate Conception in Camden had nine accused priests or deacons who were ordained within slightly more than two decades of one another, indicating several were likely to be serving the parish at the same time.

A focus on the 60s and 70s

Another striking element of the data is how many priests and deacons were ordained in the same generation.

Though the data spans more than a century, 111 of those named were ordained in the 1960s or 1970s — nearly 60 percent.

Help us fill in the blanks

The information released by each of the Dioceses is inconsistent and incomplete. We want you to help us fill what’s missing.

We’re asking anyone with knowledge of these officials to fill out a short survey (attached below) to help us point to some of the information we don’t yet know so we can more completely report this story.

We’ve already heard from more than 50 people who have supplied valuable information as we piece this puzzle together.

We’ve also heard from people who believe there are clergy not on this list that should be. If you’d like to speak to us about someone, please email our secure tip line at tips@njadvancemedia.com or by using one of the many secure communication options we offer at nj.com/tips.