Sexually abusive priest sent to Woodbridge church under McCarrick’s watch

BRIDGEWATER (NJ)
Bridgewater Courier News

March 28, 2019

By Nick Muscavage

A priest who was known by the Catholic church to have allegedly sexually abused boys was sent from Brooklyn to a Diocese of Metuchen church under the watch of then Bishop Theodore McCarrick.

On Thursday, clergy abuse advocates and an attorney representing victims of the Rev. Romano Ferraro’s alleged abuse in New York met outside St. John Vianney Church in the Colonia section to share documents depicting how Ferraro was transferred from Brooklyn to the Metuchen Diocese.

Church documents and letters shared by attorney Patrick Noaker show how church officials with the Diocese of Brooklyn handled abuse allegations against Ferraro, and how they then transferred him to the Diocese of Metuchen with McCarrick’s approval.

“Our bishops knew well before that time that this man was an abuser,” said Mark Crawford, the New Jersey director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

“Pedophiles surround themselves with people who will keep secrets,” Noaker said. “We’re here today to talk about secrets that are being kept by the Diocese of Metuchen by not acknowledging pedophile priests who have been welcome into their diocese over the years, and also bishops who have invited pedophiles into this diocese.”

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