NEW JERSEY
North Jersey Record
September 1, 2018
North Jersey Editorial Board
Sen. Joseph Vitale, long a champion on issues related to the health and general welfare of all New Jerseyans, has now stepped head-on into the gathering storm that is a widening sex abuse scandal within the Catholic Church. His call to action is heartening to hear, and was no doubt influenced, in part, by recent grand jury findings in Pennsylvania that showed Church leaders in that state covered up child sexual abuse by more than 300 priests over a period of 70 years. The report also identified more than 1,000 victims.
More than 300 priests over 70 years, more than 1,000 victims. The sheer breadth of it helped bring Vitale to the conclusion that, if it happened in Pennsylvania, it could have happened in New Jersey. Vitale indicated he was also influenced by reports circulating about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, whom the Vatican removed from ministry earlier this year after allegations the cardinal sexually abused minors and adult seminarians over the course of decades. McCarrick formerly served as archbishop of Newark and bishop of Metuchen.
Last Thursday, Vitale called on Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to impanel a grand jury to see whether “generations of hidden sexual abuse” also occurred in New Jersey, noting that several priests accused in the Pennsylvania report spent time in New Jersey. The attorney general’s office has said was still reviewing results of the Pennsylvania case to determine any possible action.
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