BishopAccountability.org

Newark archbishop moves to Illinois, controversial NJ retirement home to be sold

By Abbott Koloff
NorthJersey.com
January 28, 2020

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2020/01/28/ex-archbishop-john-j-myers-moving-illinois-after-abuse-scandals/4596956002/

Archbishop John J. Myers, former head of the Newark Archdiocese

Archbishop John J. Meyers of Newark answers questions. DANIELLE PARHIZKARAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER.
Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran

[with video]

Archbishop John J. Myers, the former head of the Newark Archdiocese who was criticized for his handling of priest abuse scandals, has moved to Illinois to be near family for health reasons, and the church will sell his Hunterdon County retirement home — which stirred controversy six years ago when church funds were used to build an expansive wing and an indoor pool.

Myers, who led the archdiocese for almost 16 years, held on to the house amid criticism that included a 2014 petition containing 17,000 signatures urging him to sell it. At the time, Pope Francis urged clergy to live simply, removing a German bishop because of his lavish lifestyle, and a Catholic leader in Atlanta agreed to sell a mansion built as his residence.

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, who took over as leader of the archdiocese three years ago, issued a statement saying the 78-year-old Myers "has suffered a serious decline" in his "physical and mental health" and after visiting family in Illinois "decided to remain in the region of his birth where he is receiving specialized care and can be visited by his family as well as the clergy of the Diocese of Peoria." The statement was posted on the archdiocesan website Tuesday.

Tobin went on to say Myers' home, which is in Franklin Township and owned by the church, would be sold, and that "the funds will be returned to the Archdiocese."

"I ask all the faithful in our Archdiocese to pray for Archbishop Myers that the mercy of God comfort and strengthen him in this moment of fragility," the cardinal wrote.

An archdiocesan spokeswoman did not specify the nature of the health problems.

Tax records show that Myers' home is assessed at more than $1 million and located on a little more than 8 acres of property. The archdiocese paid $500,000 to add a 3,000-square-foot wing that included three fireplaces and an indoor exercise pool.

Myers did not answer the phone Monday afternoon at his residence in an independent living facility in Illinois. NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey obtained a copy of Tobin's statement Monday night.

The archbishop defended the expansion of his home in a 2016 interview, saying the cash used for the construction was eventually covered by a restricted donation intended for housing for church leadership. He said the 2015 sale of a home that had been used by another archbishop, and purchased with the restricted donation, "more than paid for” the addition to his residence.

He said he needed space for an office and a more private area for guests. The new wing added a fifth bedroom to the home.

Myers' move to Illinois comes as the Catholic Church in New Jersey faces a flood of sex abuse lawsuits after the state loosened its civil statute of limitations on Dec. 1, making it easier for accusers to file such complaints.

Meanwhile, a state Attorney General's Office task force continues a sweeping investigation of reported sex abuse by clerics and alleged cover-ups by church leaders. The state has said the probe has so far resulted in the arrest of two priests accused of sexually assaulting minors, with one pleading guilty and sentenced to five years in prison.

Myers took over as leader of the Newark Archdiocese in 2001 and was in charge when it secretly settled cases of alleged sexual misconduct with adults by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The cardinal, one of the church's most powerful leaders for decades, was defrocked last year amid allegations that he sexually abused minors and sexually harassed adult seminarians.

Tobin has said he wasn't told about the settlements when he took over as leader of the archdiocese in 2017 and didn't learn about them until McCarrick was forced to resign from his ministry in 2018.

Myers also was criticized for allowing Michael Fugee to continue working as a priest and to live in a church rectory after the cleric confessed to fondling a boy at St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Wyckoff.

Fugee recanted his confession, and his 2003 conviction on a charge of aggravated criminal sexual contact was dismissed on a technicality — overturned by an appellate panel of judges who determined the trial judge made an error in instructing the jury. Prosecutors did not retry the case, but Fugee and church officials agreed that he would no longer work with children.

In 2013, Fugee admitted to violating that agreement.

Bergen County Prosecutor's Office officials said at the time that they would take over monitoring Fugee from the church, adding that they "no longer have confidence" in the archdiocese to abide by the 2007 agreement that barred the priest from working with children.

The archdiocese also is facing a pending lawsuit that alleges a minor was abused by a priest after church officials were told in 2003 that he abused another boy in the 1980s.

The archdiocese allowed the cleric, Kevin Gugliotta, to remain in ministry, later saying it could not punish him for alleged abuse that took place before he was a priest. Gugliotta was removed in 2016 after he was charged with possession of child pornography.

In 2007, four years after the archdiocese was told about prior allegations, Gugliotta allegedly abused a 14-year-old boy at St. Bartholomew parish in Scotch Plains, said Greg Gianforcaro, the attorney who filed the lawsuit.

By then, the state's criminal statute of limitations for the most serious sex offenses had been eliminated. Gianforcaro said his client has been interviewed at least once by law enforcement.

The Union County Prosecutor's Office has said in an email that it "cannot confirm nor deny information about, nor the existence of, investigations of this nature."

Contact: koloff@northjersey.com




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