7 Priests With Ties To Westfield Named On Church Sex Abuse List – Westfield, NJ Patch
WESTFIELD, NJ — Leaders of the Catholic Church in New Jersey released a list of priests “credibly accused” of child sex abuse on Wednesday, six have ties to Holy Trinity Church and one to St. Helen’s Church.
John Capparelli, James A. Carey, William McCann, John Flanagan, Alan Guglielmo, Richard Mieliwocki and Gerald Ruane were all named by the Newark Archdiocese.
All of New Jersey’s five dioceses were expected to release individual lists of accused priests at the same time. The Newark Archdiocese – which includes parishes and schools in Hudson, Essex, Bergen and Union counties – made its list public on Wednesday morning.
Carey, Flanigan and Ruane, who were all assigned to Holy Trinity, are deceased but penalties were imposed on the others. Guglielmo, who was assigned to St. Helen’s Church, was permanently removed from ministry. Holy Trinity’s Capparelli and Mieliwocki were permanently removed from ministry and laicized.
According to officials, laicization is the loss of the clerical state or the removal of a bishop, priest or deacon from the status of being a member of the clergy. In the Catholic Church, a bishop, priest, or deacon may be dismissed from the clerical state as a penalty for certain grave offenses.
In an article published by the Catholic News Agency, Father Damián Astigueta said that the answer to the question of why not all priests found guilty of abuse are dismissed from the clerical state has two primary components: not all acts of abuse are the same in terms of severity, and the situation of the priest himself varies.
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, said the list released includes all those from New Jersey who were credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors dating back to 1940.
“The revelations of clergy sexual abuse of minors throughout this past year have provoked feelings of shock, anger, shame, and deep sorrow throughout our Catholic community,” he said. “In an effort to do what is right and just, we are publishing the names of diocesan clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors.”
Tobin had announced that the Roman Catholic Dioceses in New Jersey were undertaking a complete review of their files so that the names of all priests and deacons who have been credibly accused of the sexual abuse of minors could be made public.
The dioceses are undertaking this action in coordination with the Attorney General of New Jersey’s ongoing task force examining the issue of clergy sexual abuse.
The Archdiocese of Newark and the Dioceses of Camden, Trenton, Paterson and Metuchen said they are committed to the establishment of a “Victim Compensation and Counseling Program.”
This program will provide the resources to compensate those victims of child sexual abuse by clergy and employees of the Dioceses in New Jersey whose financial claims are legally barred by New Jersey’s statute of limitations, according to a statement.
Tobin said the program also will assure that victims who have not received any financial compensation will be paid, regardless of whether their claims meet the time requirements of the statute of limitations.
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal established a statewide task force to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by clergy in the Catholic dioceses of New Jersey. Grewal called the release of the names a positive first step towards transparency and accountability.
“Despite the recent actions by the dioceses, our investigation remains ongoing because no institution or individual is immune from accountability. We know from the hundreds of calls that we have received over our tip line that there are many others who were abused as children and as adults, both by diocesan clergy and clergy members in various religious orders,” Grewal said. “The investigative work of the task force continues so that we may assure that all survivors of clergy abuse are heard and all abusers and institutions are held accountable for their acts. To this end, we anticipate taking criminal action wherever appropriate and releasing comprehensive information at the conclusion of our investigation.
Survivors and others with information are being asked to contact the toll-free tip line, 855-363-6548, which is staffed by trained professionals on a 24/7 basis.
(Photo courtesy Shutterstock)
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