NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger
[Myers: Newark Archdiocese is doing all we can to safeguard kids]
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
on May 26, 2013
Newark Archbishop John J. Myers has broken his long silence with a remarkable statement in yesterday’s Star-Ledger that attempts to evade any personal responsibility for allowing a known sex offender under his supervision to mingle with children.
He offers no apology to the families whose children were put in harm’s way. He offers no explanation for the breathtaking lapses in this case. And he makes no significant policy changes.
In the place of moral leadership, Myers offers a carefully parsed and legalistic dodge, while demoting one of his senior aides in a transparent attempt to mollify critics who have called for his own resignation.
Myers, it seems, still doesn’t get it. While many bishops are making sincere efforts to root out abusive priests and to make amends for past efforts to cover up the problem, he remains stuck in the past. He has long been too tolerant of priests facing credible accusations, and too secretive about his responses.
Myers, for example, will not release the names of people he appointed to an internal review panel — again, as many others do. In this case, the review panel found that no abuse occurred, an impossible conclusion when you consider the detailed confession of the accused priest, the Rev. Michael Fugee, who told police he groped a boy’s genitals and derived sexual pleasure from the act. The panel, as The Star-Ledger’s Mark Mueller reported, made virtually no effort to find the victim or his parents and did not hear their testimony.
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