The Archdiocese of Newark (
Latin: Archidiœcesis Novarcensis) is a
Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or archdiocese, of the
Catholic Church in northeastern
New Jersey in the United States.
During the 17th century, the British government divided present day New Jersey into separate provinces of
East Jersey and
West Jersey. East Jersey, which covered area belonging to the present Archdiocese of Newark, was hostile toward Catholics. The first priests to venture into East Jersey were Harvey and Gage, the chaplains of the Catholic governor of New York,
Thomas Dongan. Starting in 1672, the priests made a few trips to
Woodbridge and
Elizabethtown to the few Catholics there. Some of these early Catholics were French immigrants who were employed at salt works.[3]
However, in 1674, William Douglass was arrested in Elizabethtown and banished from East Jersey because he was a Catholic. In 1668, he had won a seat in the East Jersey provincial assembly, but was denied his seat due to his religion.[3] East Jersey in 1698 granted religious toleration to all Christian faiths except Catholicism. The British Government combined East Jersey and West Jersey in 1702 into the
Province of New Jersey.
During the 18th century, Robert Harding and
Ferdinand Farmer from Philadelphia traveled across the Province of New Jersey, ministering to Catholics at Mount Hope, Macopin,
Basking Ridge, Trenton and
Ringwood. The settlement of Macopin was founded by German Catholics sometime during this period.[4]
The French envoy
François Barbé-Marbois, writing from Philadelphia in 1785, estimated the Catholic population in the new States of New York and New Jersey at approximately 1700, with over half of them living in New Jersey. Many French refugees from the
Haitian Revolution had settled in Elizabeth. Vianney, Tissorant, and Malou traveled to New Jersey from
St. Peter's Parish in New York City to provide ministry. The opening of mines, furnaces, glass works, and other industries attracted more Catholic immigrants to New Jersey.[4]
Sussex, Bergen,
Morris, Essex,
Somerset, Middlesex, and Monmouth counties in New Jersey became part of the Diocese of New York
The rest of New Jersey became part of the Diocese of Philadelphia.[4]
St. John's Parish, founded in 1826, was the first parish in Newark.[6] In Jersey City, Saint Peter's Church was dedicated in 1831. Saint Mary of the Assumption Church, the first parish in Elizabeth, was started in 1844. Our Lady of Grace Parish was started in Hoboken in 1851.[7]
1853 to 1873
In 1853,
Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Newark, taking all of New Jersey from the Dioceses of New York and Philadelphia.[8] The pope named Reverend
James Bayley as the first bishop of Newark.[9]
Having limited funds to operated the diocese, Bayley appealed to the
Society for the Propagation of the Faith in
Lyon, France for assistance in 1854.[10] The Society gave him approximately 19,000 francs.[11] He also received material assistance from the
Leopoldine Society in
Vienna. In 1855, Bayley estimated the number of Catholics in the diocese at 40,000, mainly Irish and German.[10][11]
In 1856, Bayley opened Chegary Academy in
Madison.[12] The school moved in 1860 to South Orange, where it was incorporated in 1861 as
Seton Hall College. The college also had a seminary.[13] In 1857, a group of Benedictine Sisters arrived from Pennsylvania to establish schools in the diocese. The next year, Bayley sent five women to train with the Sisters of Charity. In 1872, Bayley became archbishop of Baltimore.
1873 to 1900
To replace Bayley, Reverend
Michael Corrigan of Newark became the second bishop of Newark, appointed by Pius IX in 1873.[14] At that time, Catholic boys sent to state institutions were unable to attend mass. Corrigan offered clergy to provide that service, but the State of New Jersey refused. In response, he established the Catholic Protectory in
Denville as an alternative to the state institutions, where Catholic boys were taught skills and trades. Corrigan also established a House of the Good Shepherd for girls in 1875 in Newark. In 1880, a group of Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Adoration arrived in Newark from France.[15] Corrigan became coadjutor archbishop for New York in 1880.
The next bishop of Newark was Reverend
Winand Wigger of Newark, named by
Pope Leo XIII in 1881.[16] That same year, the pope erected the
Diocese of Trenton, taking the southern portion of New Jersey from the Diocese of Newark.[17] Shortly after his installation, Wigger remarked "In the
Church of God there is no distinction of
race,
color or
tongue."[18] At the time of his consecration as a bishop, the diocese had 121 priests, 83 churches, 18,396 students enrolled in diocesan schools, and a Catholic population of 145,000.[19]
After surveying the church property in the diocese, Wigger negotiated a $2 million loan to cover the
mortgages on many churches.[19] In 1883, he moved the Catholic Protectory from Danville to
Mount Arlington and established the Sacred Heart Union to aid in its maintenance.[4]Wigger was fiercely hostile to the sale of alcohol; in 1884, he ordered his priests to deny the
last rites of the Church to anyone who sold alcohol to minors or those with
alcohol abuse problems. The brewers in the diocese were generally German and the saloon keepers predominantly Irish, but some viewed Wigger's hostility to alcoholic beverages as having an
anti-Irish bias.[20]
Wigger also came in conflict with German Catholics who were attracted to non-Catholic societies and religions. He also became involved in the controversy stirred by the German
Peter Cahensly over the alleged bias of Irish clergy in America against German Catholics. Wigger created German parishes, with their own schools for the preservation of German culture. Wigger held the fifth diocesan
synod in November 1886, which enacted strict regulations on Catholic
funerals and attendance at
parochial and public schools.[4] He even threatened to
excommunicate Catholic parents who sent their children to public schools. Wigger unsuccessfully attempted to introduce
state legislation to secure financial aid from the state for
Catholic schools.[21][18] In June 1899, Wigger laid the cornerstone for
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Newark.[4][18]Wigger died in 1901. By the time of his death, the diocese had 256 priests, 153 churches, 34,817 students, and 300,000 Catholics[19]
1900 to 1937
In 1901, Monsignor
John J. O'Connor of Newark was appointed the fourth bishop of Newark by
Pope Leo XIII.[22] During his tenure, the Catholic population of the diocese more than doubled, standing at over 683,000 by the time of his death.[23] He increased the number of churches from 114 to 273, the number of priests from 265 to 712, and the number of Catholic school students from 35,330 to 82,462.[24] O'Connor also established over 45 missions and chapels. He continued to oversee the construction of the
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.[23] In 1903, O'Connor condemned the oath of the
International Typographical Union and forbade Catholics from taking it, saying, "A man owes his allegiance first to God.[25] In 1926, fear of automobile crashes prompted O'Connor to prohibit diocesan priests from owning or driving motor vehicles, except in rural parishes.[23] O'Connor died in 1927.
The next bishop of Newark was Bishop
Thomas Walsh from the
Diocese of Trenton, appointed by
Pope Pius XI in 1928.[26] The following year, Walsh established the Newark Mount Carmel Guild to help those on
public assistance. In 1930, the guild set up a soup kitchen in the basement of
St. Patrick's Pro-Cathedral.[27] In 1930, Walsh acquired the "Tower Hill", the estate of Louis C. Gillespie, founder of L.C. Gillespie & Sons. He invited the
Religious Teachers Filippini to move to the diocese. The sisters relocated their motherhouse to
Morristown and named it Villa Walsh. They opened a girls school,
Villa Walsh Academy.[28] In 1931, Walsh opened a new chancery building in Newark and in 1933 established Saint Gertrude Cemetery in
Colonia.[29] Walsh raised $2 million in 25 days to build Immaculate Conception Seminary in 1936, and encouraged
Seton Hall Preparatory School and
Seton Hall College to seek state accreditation.[30]
1937 to 1986
In December 1937, Pius XI took the following actions:
Elevated the Diocese of Newark to the Archdiocese of Newark.[31] The Dioceses of Camden, Paterson, and Trenton became
suffragan sees of the new archdiocese.
Bishop
Peter Gerety from the
Diocese of Portland was the third archbishop of Newark, appointed by Pope Paul VI in 1974.[36] During his 12-year tenure in Newark, Gerety created the Office of Pastoral Renewal and began a ministry to divorced Catholics.[37] The Office of Pastoral Renewal evolved into RENEW International, an organization based in
Plainfield that provides resources for small Christian communities in the United States, Canada and
Third World countries. Gerety established the Archbishop's Annual Appeal in 1975, and supported the
charismatic and
ecumenical movements.[37] He also established the Archbishop Gerety Fund for Ecclesiastical History to advance studies in ecclesiastical history, especially the
history of Catholicism in the United States.[38]
In November 1981, Pope
John Paul II erected the
Diocese of Metuchen, designating it as an suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Newark.[39] In 1984, Gerety ordered People of Hope, a charismatic Catholic community in the archdiocese, to sever its relationship with
Sword of the Spirit, a nationwide conference of charismatic groups, citing its authoritarian practices. People of Hope said that they were not subject to Gerety's authority.[40]
1986 to 2016
Gerety retired in 1986. His replacement was Bishop
Theodore McCarrick from the Diocese of Methuen, named by Pope John Paul II in 1986. During his tenure, McCarrick established the Office of Evangelization, ministries for Hispanics and victims of
HIV/AIDS, and a drug prevention program.[41] He also promoted
vocations, and ordained 200 priests for the archdiocese.[42] McCarrick became known as an advocate for
social justice, once saying, "[T]he Church cannot be authentic unless it takes care of the poor, the newcomers, the needy."[42] He became archbishop of the
Archdiocese of Washington in 2000.
To replace McCarrick, John Paul II selected Bishop
John J. Myers of the
Diocese of Peoria in 2001.[43] Later that year, Myers banned
eulogies at funeral masses in the archdiocese, saying that some eulogies were inappropriate and too long. After pushback from parishioners, he reversed himself.[44] In 2004, Myers criticized a group of law students at Seton Hall University for honoring Supreme Court Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor, objecting because she allegedly favored
abortion rights for women.[45]
When Myers retired in late 2016, Francis named Archbishop
Joseph W. Tobin from the
Archdiocese of Indianapolis to replace him.[48][49][50][51] Tobin welcomed a "pilgrimage" of gay and
lesbian Catholics and their families to Sacred Heart Cathedral in 2017. In an interview before the mass, Tobin said,
"The word I use is 'welcome'. These are people that have not felt welcome in other places. My prayer for them is that they do. Today in the Catholic Church, we read a passage that says you have to be able to give a reason for your hope. And I'm praying that this pilgrimage for them, and really for the whole Church, is a reason for hope."[52]
In September 2021, the archdiocese broke ground on a new St. Lucy's Homeless Housing and Support Services Site in
Jersey City. The project was designed to provide emergency and
transitional housing, along with supportive services, for
homeless individuals and families.[53]
As of 2023, Tobin is the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark.
Sexual abuse scandal
In 2001, Michael Fugee, an archdiocese priest at St. Elizabeth's Parish in
Wyckoff, was accused of molesting a 14-year-old boy on multiple occasions in the 1990s. Fugee confessed to police in 2001 to fondling a teenage boy. However, he later recanted his confession, saying he had been pressured by investigators.[54] Fugee was tried and convicted in 2003 of criminal sexual contact, but his conviction was overturned in 2006 by an
appellate court.[55] To avoid a retrial, Fugee signed an agreement with the
Bergen County Prosecutor's Office in 2007. He agreed to a lifetime ban working in contact with children. The archdiocese co-signed the agreement, promising it would supervise Fugee.[56]
In September 2009, the archdiocese assigned Fugee as chaplain at
Saint Michael's Medical Center in Newark. However, after learning about Fugee's record, Saint Michael's demanded that the archdiocese remove him. The archdiocese later admitted that they never informed the hospital about Fugee's past, only the head of the archdiocese chaplain's office.[55] In 2013, Fugee was discovered working in youth ministry at St. Mary's Parish in
Colts Neck, a parish in the
Diocese of Trenton. Myers said he was unaware of Fugee's youth work and immediately suspended him.[57][58] There were calls for Myers to resign, including from members of the
New Jersey State Legislature, because of his handling of the Fugee case.[59] In early 2014, the Bergen County prosecutors agreed to not press new charges against Fugee if the Vatican
laicized him, which happened in May 2014.[56]
In August 2016, Kevin Gugliotta, an archdiocesan priest, was arrested for possession of
child pornography after detectives traced an upload he made of these materials to a
chat room. Soon after his arrest, the archdiocese removed Gugliotta from public ministry. He pleaded guilty and in August 2017 was sentenced to an 11-year prison sentence. Gugliotta later told probation officers that he uploaded the pornography because he was angry with God for causing him to lose at
poker tournaments.[60]
In 2018, Desmond Rossi, a priest with the
Diocese of Albany, revealed that he had been sexually assaulted when he was a seminarian. Rossi said he attacked by two other seminarians in a Newark church in 1988. He filed a complaint with the Archdiocese of Newark in 2003. After an investigation, the archdiocese said that Rossi's complaint was credible, but could not be proven; they took no further action.[61]
In March 2019, a New Jersey man sued the archdiocese, claiming that he had been sexually abused by Gugliotta at St. Bartholomew the Apostle Parish in
Scotch Plains. The plaintiff noted that a man complained to the archdiocese about Gugliotta in 2003, saying that he had sexually abused him as a boy when Gugliotta was a Boy Scout leader in the 1980s. However, since the alleged crime happened before Gugliotta entered the priesthood, the archdiocese allowed him to stay in ministry.[62][63]
In an August 2018 article, the Catholic News Agency said that six anonymous priests made the following claims during an interview about Cardinal
Theodore McCarrick and several priests in the archdiocese;
That the archdiocese in 2014 removed Mark O'Malley as rector of St. Andrew's Hall Seminary after he secretly hid a camera in a priest's bedroom[64]
That McCarrick would invite young men to stay at his house in
Sea Girt on the
Jersey Shore, or to spend the night in the cathedral rectory in
Newark
That some priests in the archdiocese were involved in gay relationships with each other
In response to the 2018 Catholic News Agency article, the archdiocese stated that neither the six priests nor anyone else "has ever spoken to Cardinal Tobin about a 'gay sub-culture' in the Archdiocese of Newark."[64] Regarding O'Malley, the archdiocese stated that he had been "going through a personal crisis and received therapy after the incident at the seminary. Although he is not serving as a pastor, he has been deemed fit for priestly ministry and hopes to serve as a hospital chaplain."[64][65]
In July 2018, The New York Times reported that Robert Ciolek, a former priest, had received an $80,000 settlement in 2004 from the archdiocese and two other New Jersey dioceses. Ciolek had accused McCarrick of sexually abusing him at the Sea Girt house. In 2007, a second victim of sexual abuse at Sea Girt, a priest, had received a $100,000 settlement from the archdiocese.[66] In September 2018, the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced that its investigation of McCarrick would include his tenure as archbishop of Newark.[67]
In February 2019, the archdiocese released a list of 63 clergy with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors since 1940. Cardinal Tobin also acknowledged that the alleged acts of abuse committed by the clergy listed were reported to law enforcement agencies.[68] By 2020, the names of 86 accused clergy who served in the archdiocese were made public.[69]
In December 2019, a new law went into effect in state of New Jersey that allowed some of McCarrick's alleged victims to file lawsuits against him and the archdiocese.[70] As of December 2019, eight lawsuits had been filed against the archdiocese.[71][72]
2020 lawsuits against archdiocese
By February 2020, according to a New Jersey attorney, the five Catholic dioceses in the state had paid over $11 million to compensate 105 claims of sex abuse committed by clergy. Of these 105 claims, 98 were compensated through settlements.[73]America Magazine reported that the archdiocese and two other New Jersey dioceses had been making secret payments to victims of abuse by McCarrick since 2005.[74] In July 2020, Northjersey.com reported that nine new sex abuse lawsuits had been filed against the archdiocese. The new lawsuits contained allegations of abuse by four archdiocese priests and three members of religious orders.[75]
In July 2020, a New Jersey man sued the diocese, stating that he had been sexually abused by McCarrick and three priests at the Sea Girt house in 1982 when he was 14. At that time, McCarrick was bishop of Methuen. The plaintiff said that the beach house was a common place for McCarrick and others to engage in “open and obvious criminal sexual conduct”. The lawsuit stated that boys staying at the house were paired with adult clergymen in the same bedrooms. The Diocese of Methuen bought the house in 1985, then sold it to the archdiocese in 1988.[76][77]
In August 2020, two men sued the archdiocese and
Paramus Catholic High School in Paramus. The men alleged that they had been sexually molested by hockey coach Bernard Garris at the school and during athletic trips between 1986 and 1988. The lawsuit alleged that the archdiocese, the school and McCarrick covered up the abuse after the plaintiffs reported it.[78] In October 2020, eight more former Paramus students filed similar lawsuits.[79]
In December, 2020, it was revealed that the Archdiocese of Newark was among more than 230 sex abuse lawsuits filed within a period of one year against New Jersey Catholic dioceses.[80]
Also in December 2020, three Michigan men sued the archdiocese, accusing Miroslaw Krol of sexually abusing them. Although a priest with the Archdiocese of Newark, Krol had been serving as chancellor of the Catholic Orchard Lake Schools in the
Archdiocese of Detroit. The men, all school employees, said that Krol would sexually assault and constantly proposition them. When the men reported their allegations to the Orchard Lake board of trustees, they were fired.[81]
2021 lawsuits against archdiocese
In May 2021, a woman filed a $50 million lawsuit, claiming that Archbishop Gerety sexually abused her in a church rectory in 1976 when she was five years old.[82]
In September 2021, four former Archdiocese of Newark priests were named in new sex abuse lawsuits.[83]
In November 2021, Michael Reading, a former archdiocesan priest, accused McCarrick of sexually abusing him in 1986 during a stay at McCarrick's beach house. Reading also claimed that as a boy, he was sexually abused in 1978 by Edward Eilert, an archdiocesan priest.[84]
Ministries
Jersey Catholic is the archdiocesan newspaper.
The Catholic Committee on Scouting (CCOS) offers support for Catholic scouting units chartered with archdiocesan parishes and schools.[85]
Churches
As of 2021, the Archdiocese of Newark served approximately 1.3 million Catholics in 212 parishes.[53]
In May 2020, the Archdiocese of Newark announced that it would close nine elementary schools and
Cristo Rey Newark High School in Newark due to financial problems.[88][89][90] The archdiocese also noted that the it would have to pay approximately $80 million to keep all of its remaining elementary schools open for only five more years.[91]
^
abYeager, M. Hildegarde (1947). The Life of James Roosevelt Bayley, First Bishop of Newark and Eighth Archbishop of Baltimore, 1814–1877. Washington, D. C.: The Catholic University of America Press. pp. 115–116.
^
abYeager, M. Hildegarde (1947). The Life of James Roosevelt Bayley, First Bishop of Newark and Eighth Archbishop of Baltimore, 1814–1877. Washington, D. C.: The Catholic University of America Press. p. 121.
^Kupke, Raymond. "James Roosevelt Bayley", The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History
^
abcHerbermann, Charles George. "Rt. Rev. Winand Michael Wigger, D.D., Third Bishop of Newark". Historical Records and Studies of the United States Catholic Historical Society.