NEW JERSEY
National Catholic Reporter
Brian Roewe | May. 3, 2013
MENDHAM, N.J. Calls have come for the resignation of Newark, N.J., Archbishop John J. Myers after a late-April investigative story revealed an archdiocesan priest had violated the terms of a court-ordered agreement to stay away from children.
In the past several years, Fr. Michael Fugee has attended youth group activities, including retreats and overnight trips, and heard confessions of young people, according to an April 28 story in the Newark Star-Ledger. Those actions appear in violation of a memorandum of understanding signed by Fugee and his lawyer, archdiocesan vicar general Msgr. John Doran and the Bergen County prosecutor — restricting the priest from “any unsupervised contact with or to supervise or minister to any child/minor under the age of 18 or work in any position in which children are involved.”
The prosecutor’s office has begun an active investigation into Fugee’s case and has contacted the archdiocese as part of it.
“Things are being looked into, and we’re working with the prosecutor’s office and that’s about all I can say at this point,” James Goodness, director of communications for the archdiocese, told NCR May 1. He also confirmed there has been no change in Fugee’s ministerial state as of press time.
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