NEW JERSEY
The Record
MARCH 16, 2014
BY JEFF GREEN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
Related: Letter from Bishop Edgar da Cunha to priests about the new archdiocese policy (PDF)
Related: Funeral arrangements policy (PDF)
The Archdiocese of Newark is rolling out a policy for the funerals of priests who were removed from ministry on sexual abuse accusations that it says caters to both the sensitivities of surviving victims and the clerics’ families.
But victims and their advocates say the policy, approved by Newark Archbishop John J. Myers, bends in favor of the offending priests, still providing them a celebratory funeral that all archdiocese clergy are encouraged to attend and in which they are buried in their liturgical robes.
The policy, sent to the archdiocese’s 961 Roman Catholic priests earlier this month, requires the funeral Mass to be held away from any churches where an offending priest worked or lived. It also stipulates that obituaries be stripped of photos and the time, date and location of funeral services.
Depending on their restrictions, the priests can be buried in their Mass vestments.
The policy applies only to priests who were removed from active ministry because a church review process concluded they had abused children.
An archdiocese official said in a letter to clergy this month that the policy was intended to protect the priests’ families and shield the church from further negative media coverage.
Jim Goodness, an archdiocese spokesman, played down the letter, saying the intention of the policy is to keep the funerals low-key, private affairs, out of communities where pain might be relived by those affected by alleged abusers.
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