NEW JERSEY
The Record
MAY 23, 2014
BY ABBOTT KOLOFF
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
WAYNE — Parishioners at Our Lady of the Valley said they were stunned Friday after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson suspended their popular pastor for allowing another priest, who had been accused of abusing children in a widely publicized case, to attend a family festival last week.
Bishop Arthur Serratelli told the pastor, Monsignor Chris Di Lella, on Friday that he was being placed on administrative leave and that his priestly faculties were being suspended, which means he is not allowed to wear the clerical collar or present himself as a priest, according to a diocese news release.
That action came after the bishop received a letter on Tuesday complaining that a former priest of the Newark Archdiocese, John Capparelli, had attended the parish’s annual Family Festival on May 12, diocese officials said. The diocese statement noted that Capparelli, who stopped working as a priest more than 20 years ago and had been teaching in the Newark public school system, had his teaching license revoked last year after allegations that he abused children were made public.
Capparelli, who once worked at Our Lady of Fatima in North Bergen, was defrocked in March, according to James Goodness, spokesman for the Newark archdiocese. The archdiocese had sent a request to Rome last year asking for Capparelli, who remained a priest even though he no longer worked as one, to be defrocked after the Star Ledger published stories about the allegations against him.
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