BERGEN (NJ)
Bergen Record
Nov. 22, 2019
By Deena Yellin
Just a week before state law may unleash a torrent of new priest abuse lawsuits, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of the Newark Archdiocese said the church is working hard to rebuild trust with the more than 1.3 million Catholics under his watch.
The church’s credibility was “shot” after a series of scandals came to light last year, Tobin said in an interview Friday. But the archdiocese has taken steps to inject more transparency, he added, including pressing local pastors to address the abuse issue from the pulpit and making financial audits public.
Getting back trust “is not easy or instantaneous,” Tobin told NorthJersey.com and the USATODAY Network New Jersey. “We have to act like we’re trustworthy.”
Tobin, leader of the archdiocese covering Bergen, Union, Hudson and Essex counties, unveiled a six-point “Forward in Faith Together” initiative earlier this year focused on increasing protection for minors and seminarians, education of priests and support for parishioners, among other goals.
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