NEW JERSEY
NJ Today
[with video]
Myers Mum After Chat With Catholic Publication; Critics Renew Call for Resignation
By David Cruz
NJ Today
Newark Archbishop John Myers’ slow emergence from media silence is doing little to shed light on the church’s role in the Father Michael Fugee case. That’s what critics of Myers are saying today as they repeat their calls for his resignation.
“It’s typical Archbishop John Myers,” said Bob Hoatson of Road to Recovery, a victims’ advocacy group. “Once again he deflects all criticism from himself; he deflects all criticism from the Archdiocese of Newark, from the priest who molested the child, and he talks about things like review boards and protocols and things that are tangential to the essential issue here.”
In an interview with the National Catholic Register, Myers admitted that the church dropped the ball on properly monitoring Fugee, who was arrested in May for allegedly violating a 2003 Memorandum of Understating with the Bergen County Prosecutor to stay away from children. Myers said that in the future, “We would not enter into a memorandum of understanding that places a burden on the Church. The state has more resources.”
Jay Fahey, a former Bergen County Prosecutor now in private practice told us today that the church did indeed violate the agreement but that, barring a smoking gun, he didn’t expect the church as a corporation, or Archbishop Myers as its head, to face any charges.
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