NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Mark Mueller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 15, 2016

An assistant pastor at a South Orange church has been removed from ministry amid allegations he sexually assaulted two minors in the early 1980s, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark confirmed.

The Rev. Michael “Mitch” Walters, parochial vicar at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, also has given up two archdiocese-wide positions.

Walters served as director of the Center for Ministerial Development, overseeing educational and spiritual enrichment programs for parishioners, and director of the Pontifical Mission Societies, which raises money for missionary and evangelical work.

The accused priest denies the allegations, said the spokesman, Jim Goodness.

“He said nothing had happened, that he did not do this,” Goodness said.

Walters, 60, left ministry by mutual agreement with the archdiocese in October. NJ Advance Media learned of his removal recently. The allegations date…