NEW JERSEY
Observer-Tribune

By CHRISTINE LEE Staff Writer

HARDING TWP. – The at-times thorny relationship between the Catholic Church in the U.S. and state authorities was the topic of a program Sunday led by a Seton Hall University professor at a Harding church.

Speaking in front of a group of around 20 people, Madison resident and former Councilwoman JoRenee Formicola, a professor of political science, spoke about issues of clerical sexual abuse in a program at the First Presbyterian Church of New Vernon, Lee’s Hill Road.

Formicola’s 2014 book “Clerical Sexual Abuse: How the Crisis Changed U.S. Catholic Church-State Relations,” analyzes the struggle between church leaders and civil authorities in dealing with the treatment of clergy members accused of sexual abuse.

Published by Palgrave-Macmillan, the book is written based on grand jury hearings, criminal investigations, civil lawsuits, as well as news and media reports. The book explains the personal,…