NEW YORK
The Journal News
[with copy of a letter from Cardinal Timothy Dolan]
Michael D’Onofrio, mcdonofrio@lohud.com December 18, 2015
A Rockland priest who once led Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains has been suspended after a “credible” allegation that he sexually abused a minor more than three decades ago, the archdiocese told parishioners.
Monsignor John O’Keefe, a pastor at St. Margaret of Antioch Parish in Pearl River, was accused of abusing the minor on two occasions, according to a letter issued on Wednesday to members of the parish from Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York.
See the entirety of Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s letter below.
O’Keefe has denied the allegations, which have not been substantiated, Dolan wrote.
“But in keeping with the policy and practice of the archdiocese, … Monsignor O’Keefe is not permitted to publicly function as a priest until the matter is resolved,” Dolan said in the letter.
O’Keefe, in 1992, was named the first president of Archbishop Stepinac High School. He is also listed on the school’s Alumni Hall of Fame on the school website.
In 2003, he was reassigned to St. Margaret’s. While pastor of St. Margaret parish in 2012, O’Keefe celebrated his 40th anniversary of his ordination.
Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese of New York, said the archdiocese was contacted by a lawyer from the person making the allegation. The person alleged two acts of abuse — one in New York and another in Virginia — happened in the early 1980s.
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