Latest news with #DioceseofCamden
Time of India
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
New Jersey Catholic bishop says diocese will no longer oppose investigation into abuse allegations
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Camden, NJ (Image: AP) CAMDEN: The Catholic bishop of a New Jersey diocese said he would no longer oppose a state grand jury investigation of clergy sexual abuse that the church has been fighting behind closed doors in court for Bishop Joseph Williams , who took over the diocese in March, told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Monday the diocese no longer wants to prevent the attorney general's office from seating a grand jury to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by priests and other religious told the newspaper it was important to help those harmed by the church and that he doesn't want to stop their voices from being heard."Our people need to hear this, the clergy needs to hear this, so that it never happens again, first of all," Williams said.A message seeking comment Tuesday was left with the change comes a week after attorneys for the diocese argued before the state Supreme Court that prosecutors did not have the authority under court rules to use a grand jury to investigate private church officials. Instead, the lawyers argued, the rule requires grand jury presentments to tackle public officials and high court has not yet issued an opinion on the not immediately clear how the bishop's new position would affect their state attorney general's office said in an emailed statement Tuesday that it welcomes the "introspection that produced this shift in the Diocese of Camden's position."The statement pointed out that prosecutors are still subject to lower court orders that blocked the Crawford, state director of Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, said in a text message Tuesday that the change was "long overdue.""We are cautiously optimistic as this is certainly the right thing to do and for the right reasons," he said. "This should have happened long ago and seeing Bishop Williams take a different approach is encouraging."The issue dates to a Pennsylvania grand jury report in 2018 that found more than 1,000 children had been abused in that state since the 1940s, prompting the New Jersey attorney general to announce a similar the results of New Jersey's inquiry never became public partly because a legal battle led by the Diocese of Camden was unfolding behind closed doors amid sealed this year the Bergen Record obtained records disclosing a trial court's judgment in favor of the diocese and revealing the diocese's objection to the grand jury. And in March, the Supreme Court ordered more documents in the case core disagreement is over whether a court rule permits grand juries in New Jersey to issue findings in cases involving private individuals. Trial and appellate courts found for the oral arguments, Supreme Court justices at times sounded skeptical of the diocese's then-position that the grand jury investigation would amount to a condemnation of the church and its officials."We don't know what a grand jury would say, am I right?" Justice Anne Patterson asked at the time.
Winnipeg Free Press
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
New Jersey Catholic bishop says diocese will no longer oppose investigation into abuse allegations
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — The Catholic bishop of a New Jersey diocese said he would no longer oppose a state grand jury investigation of clergy sexual abuse that the church has been fighting behind closed doors in court for years. Camden Bishop Joseph Williams, who took over the diocese in March, told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Monday the diocese no longer wants to prevent the attorney general's office from seating a grand jury to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by priests and other religious officials. Williams told the newspaper it was important to help those harmed by the church and that he doesn't want to stop their voices from being heard. FILE - The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Camden, N.J., Wednesday, April 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) 'Our people need to hear this, the clergy needs to hear this, so that it never happens again, first of all,' Williams said. A message seeking comment Tuesday was left with the diocese. The change comes a week after attorneys for the diocese argued before the state Supreme Court that prosecutors did not have the authority under court rules to use a grand jury to investigate private church officials. Instead, the lawyers argued, the rule requires grand jury presentments to tackle public officials and government. The high court has not yet issued an opinion on the arguments. It's not immediately clear how the bishop's new position would affect their ruling. The state attorney general's office said in an emailed statement Tuesday that it welcomes the 'introspection that produced this shift in the Diocese of Camden's position.' The statement pointed out that prosecutors are still subject to lower court orders that blocked the investigation. Mark Crawford, state director of Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, said in a text message Tuesday that the change was 'long overdue.' 'We are cautiously optimistic as this is certainly the right thing to do and for the right reasons,' he said. 'This should have happened long ago and seeing Bishop Williams take a different approach is encouraging.' The issue dates to a Pennsylvania grand jury report in 2018 that found more than 1,000 children had been abused in that state since the 1940s, prompting the New Jersey attorney general to announce a similar investigation. Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter But the results of New Jersey's inquiry never became public partly because a legal battle led by the Diocese of Camden was unfolding behind closed doors amid sealed proceedings. Then, this year the Bergen Record obtained records disclosing a trial court's judgment in favor of the diocese and revealing the diocese's objection to the grand jury. And in March, the Supreme Court ordered more documents in the case unsealed. The core disagreement is over whether a court rule permits grand juries in New Jersey to issue findings in cases involving private individuals. Trial and appellate courts found for the diocese. In oral arguments, Supreme Court justices at times sounded skeptical of the diocese's then-position that the grand jury investigation would amount to a condemnation of the church and its officials. 'We don't know what a grand jury would say, am I right?' Justice Anne Patterson asked at the time.
Hamilton Spectator
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
NJ high court to hear case between Catholic diocese, prosecutor over investigating sex abuse claims
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A Catholic diocese wants to stop New Jersey from trying to empanel a grand jury to investigate allegations of clergy sexual abuse, with arguments before the state's high court set for Monday. After a Pennsylvania grand jury report found over 1,000 children had been abused since the 1940s, New Jersey formed a task force in 2018 and intended to empanel its own grand jury to investigate allegations of abuse there. But the Diocese of Camden pushed back in court in 2021, arguing that state law doesn't permit having a grand jury investigate possible abuse by private church officials. That legal battle has happened away from public view for years, as courts had sealed the proceedings in New Jersey and the attorney general's office didn't share updates. But last month, the state Supreme Court unsealed a handful of documents between the diocese and the attorney general after the Bergen Record obtained records detailing the court battle. The diocese argues that such grand jury investigations are only for governments and public officials. In 2023, a trial court judge sided with the diocese, finding that such a grand jury would lack authority because it would be focused on 'private conduct,' rather than a government agency's actions. An appeals court affirmed that judgment last year, and Attorney General Matt Platkin appealed to the state Supreme Court. The documents that the high court unsealed in March sketch out some of what the state's task force has found so far but don't include specific allegations. The papers show that 550 phone calls alleging abuse from the 1940s to the 'recent past' came into a hotline the state had set up. The diocese argues a grand jury isn't needed in large part because of a 2002 memorandum of understanding between New Jersey Catholic dioceses and prosecutors. The memorandum required church officials to report abuse and said authorities would be provided with all relevant information about the allegations. One of the court documents says abuse had been 'effectively eradicated' in the church. But the Pennsylvania grand jury report in 2018 touched off a reexamination of statute of limitations law in New Jersey, which overhauled its civil statute of limitations on childhood sex abuse claims in 2019. The new law allows child victims to sue until they turn 55 or within seven years of their first realization that the abuse caused them harm. The previous statute of limitations was age 20 or two years after first realizing the abuse caused harm. Also in 2019, New Jersey's five Catholic dioceses listed more than 180 priests who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors over a span of several decades, joining more than two dozen other states that have named suspects of abuse in the wake of the landmark Pennsylvania grand jury report. Many priests on the lists were deceased; others were removed from ministry. The Camden diocese, like others across the country, filed for bankruptcy amid a torrent of lawsuits — up to 55, according to court records — stemming from the relaxed statute of limitations. Then in 2022, the diocese agreed to pay $87.5 million to settle claims involving clergy sex abuse with some 300 accusers in one of the largest cash settlements involving the Catholic church in the United States. The agreement by the diocese, which encompasses six counties in southern New Jersey on the outskirts of Philadelphia, exceeded the nearly $85 million settlement in 2003 in the clergy abuse scandal in Boston, but was less than other settlements in California and Oregon.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NJ high court to hear case between Catholic diocese, prosecutor over investigating sex abuse claims
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A Catholic diocese wants to stop New Jersey from trying to empanel a grand jury to investigate allegations of clergy sexual abuse, with arguments before the state's high court set for Monday. After a Pennsylvania grand jury report found over 1,000 children had been abused since the 1940s, New Jersey formed a task force in 2018 and intended to empanel its own grand jury to investigate allegations of abuse there. But the Diocese of Camden pushed back in court in 2021, arguing that state law doesn't permit having a grand jury investigate possible abuse by private church officials. That legal battle has happened away from public view for years, as courts had sealed the proceedings in New Jersey and the attorney general's office didn't share updates. But last month, the state Supreme Court unsealed a handful of documents between the diocese and the attorney general after the Bergen Record obtained records detailing the court battle. The diocese argues that such grand jury investigations are only for governments and public officials. In 2023, a trial court judge sided with the diocese, finding that such a grand jury would lack authority because it would be focused on 'private conduct,' rather than a government agency's actions. An appeals court affirmed that judgment last year, and Attorney General Matt Platkin appealed to the state Supreme Court. The documents that the high court unsealed in March sketch out some of what the state's task force has found so far but don't include specific allegations. The papers show that 550 phone calls alleging abuse from the 1940s to the 'recent past' came into a hotline the state had set up. The diocese argues a grand jury isn't needed in large part because of a 2002 memorandum of understanding between New Jersey Catholic dioceses and prosecutors. The memorandum required church officials to report abuse and said authorities would be provided with all relevant information about the allegations. One of the court documents says abuse had been 'effectively eradicated' in the church. But the Pennsylvania grand jury report in 2018 touched off a reexamination of statute of limitations law in New Jersey, which overhauled its civil statute of limitations on childhood sex abuse claims in 2019. The new law allows child victims to sue until they turn 55 or within seven years of their first realization that the abuse caused them harm. The previous statute of limitations was age 20 or two years after first realizing the abuse caused harm. Also in 2019, New Jersey's five Catholic dioceses listed more than 180 priests who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors over a span of several decades, joining more than two dozen other states that have named suspects of abuse in the wake of the landmark Pennsylvania grand jury report. Many priests on the lists were deceased; others were removed from ministry. The Camden diocese, like others across the country, filed for bankruptcy amid a torrent of lawsuits — up to 55, according to court records — stemming from the relaxed statute of limitations. Then in 2022, the diocese agreed to pay $87.5 million to settle claims involving clergy sex abuse with some 300 accusers in one of the largest cash settlements involving the Catholic church in the United States. The agreement by the diocese, which encompasses six counties in southern New Jersey on the outskirts of Philadelphia, exceeded the nearly $85 million settlement in 2003 in the clergy abuse scandal in Boston, but was less than other settlements in California and Oregon.
Winnipeg Free Press
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
NJ high court to hear case between Catholic diocese, prosecutor over investigating sex abuse claims
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A Catholic diocese wants to stop New Jersey from trying to empanel a grand jury to investigate allegations of clergy sexual abuse, with arguments before the state's high court set for Monday. After a Pennsylvania grand jury report found over 1,000 children had been abused since the 1940s, New Jersey formed a task force in 2018 and intended to empanel its own grand jury to investigate allegations of abuse there. But the Diocese of Camden pushed back in court in 2021, arguing that state law doesn't permit having a grand jury investigate possible abuse by private church officials. That legal battle has happened away from public view for years, as courts had sealed the proceedings in New Jersey and the attorney general's office didn't share updates. But last month, the state Supreme Court unsealed a handful of documents between the diocese and the attorney general after the Bergen Record obtained records detailing the court battle. The diocese argues that such grand jury investigations are only for governments and public officials. In 2023, a trial court judge sided with the diocese, finding that such a grand jury would lack authority because it would be focused on 'private conduct,' rather than a government agency's actions. An appeals court affirmed that judgment last year, and Attorney General Matt Platkin appealed to the state Supreme Court. The documents that the high court unsealed in March sketch out some of what the state's task force has found so far but don't include specific allegations. The papers show that 550 phone calls alleging abuse from the 1940s to the 'recent past' came into a hotline the state had set up. The diocese argues a grand jury isn't needed in large part because of a 2002 memorandum of understanding between New Jersey Catholic dioceses and prosecutors. The memorandum required church officials to report abuse and said authorities would be provided with all relevant information about the allegations. One of the court documents says abuse had been 'effectively eradicated' in the church. But the Pennsylvania grand jury report in 2018 touched off a reexamination of statute of limitations law in New Jersey, which overhauled its civil statute of limitations on childhood sex abuse claims in 2019. The new law allows child victims to sue until they turn 55 or within seven years of their first realization that the abuse caused them harm. The previous statute of limitations was age 20 or two years after first realizing the abuse caused harm. During Elections Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election. Also in 2019, New Jersey's five Catholic dioceses listed more than 180 priests who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors over a span of several decades, joining more than two dozen other states that have named suspects of abuse in the wake of the landmark Pennsylvania grand jury report. Many priests on the lists were deceased; others were removed from ministry. The Camden diocese, like others across the country, filed for bankruptcy amid a torrent of lawsuits — up to 55, according to court records — stemming from the relaxed statute of limitations. Then in 2022, the diocese agreed to pay $87.5 million to settle claims involving clergy sex abuse with some 300 accusers in one of the largest cash settlements involving the Catholic church in the United States. The agreement by the diocese, which encompasses six counties in southern New Jersey on the outskirts of Philadelphia, exceeded the nearly $85 million settlement in 2003 in the clergy abuse scandal in Boston, but was less than other settlements in California and Oregon.
