NEW JERSEY
The Record
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013
THE RECORD
IT IS not complicated. Six years ago, the Rev. Michael Fugee entered into an agreement with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office that he could not have unsupervised contact with children, minister to children or work in any position with children. In exchange, Fugee would not face a new trial for allegedly fondling a 13-year-old boy. That agreement has been breached.
Fugee had been found guilty by a jury, but that verdict was vacated after an appellate panel ruled that a part of Fugee’s confession to police that dealt with his sexual orientation should have been withheld from jurors. The deal with the Prosecutor’s Office eliminated the possibility of a new trial. It did not change the basic facts of the case or, more to the point, change Fugee. He should not have unsupervised contact with minors; he should not be ministering to children.
Yet that is exactly what has been happening for some time. And the Archdiocese of Newark, which is responsible for Fugee’s ministerial placement, sees nothing wrong. It contends the agreement made with Bergen County prosecutors bans Fugee from unsupervised contact with youth, not contact with youth. This is a wrong legal interpretation and it is an offensive moral interpretation.
Who is Newark Archbishop John Myers protecting: the children of his archdiocese or one of his priests who has run afoul of the law? This type of hierarchical arrogance led to the massive sexual abuse scandals that have blemished the good works of the Catholic Church, and this is exactly why U.S. bishops created a document, the so-called Dallas Charter, pledging zero tolerance for any credible accusation of sexual abuse of a minor.
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