NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger
By Mark Mueller/The Star-Ledger
on May 05, 2013
COLTS NECK — The pastor and two youth ministers at the Monmouth County church where a visiting priest violated a lifetime ban on ministry to children have stepped down from their posts, the latest fallout in an escalating scandal enveloping Newark Archbishop John J. Myers.
The Rev. Thomas Triggs, pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Colts Neck, announced his resignation from the pulpit during Mass on Saturday evening, parishioners said. Trenton Bishop David M. O’Connell confirmed the development in an email to priests of his diocese, said the Rev. John Bambrick, a diocesan priest who received the message.
The email said the youth ministers, Michael and Amy Lenehan, no longer held those positions. It was not immediately clear if they voluntarily resigned or were forced out.
O’Connell met with Triggs at the church Saturday morning to discuss the controversy, Bambrick said. Based on the email, it did not appear as if the bishop demanded Triggs’ resignation, the priest said.
“Bishop O’Connell said Father Triggs offered to resign and that he accepted,” Bambrick said.
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