Legislation finally intervenes to address one of the most prominent organizations in the United States. The Catholic Church is notorious for its long history of sex scandals–over the past several decades, 180 clergical members have been revealed by various New Jersey Roman Catholic dioceses to have committed sexual abuse.
The recently inducted Pope Leo XIV, who has received a relatively warm welcome from the general public after Pope Francis’s death, was accused of covering up for his priest friends for sexual assault in Chicago and Peru. Pope Francis had a rocky reputation with the public for his response to the many Church sexual abuse allegations that arose during his papacy—though he did accept the resignation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick after he was accused of sexual assault 40 years ago. A professor of religious studies at Cornell University, Kim Haines-Eitzen, says the reports of French clergy sexually abusing 200,000+ children (most of whom were 10-13-year-old boys) over the past seven decades come as no surprise.
“Systemic abuse can be found in the literary and historical records going back to the very beginnings of the Catholic Church, and outrage at corruption in the church is part of what led to the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century,” Haines-Eitzen responds. “Will these latest findings urge the church to reckon seriously with its past, move beyond calls for forgiveness, and create a robust, inclusive, transformational, and transparent reformation?”
The state of New Jersey is putting its foot down, ready to challenge the Church’s complicity. On June 16, the Supreme Court of New Jersey ruled that grand juries can now investigate sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. The news comes after a behind-the-scenes legal dispute between the Camden diocese—which did not want the Church’s sexual abuse charges to be empaneled by a grand jury—and the New Jersey Supreme Court was resolved with a surrender. The attorney to the bishop revealed the diocese would no longer attempt to delay the investigation conducted by the New Jersey attorney general’s office.
The Diocese of Camden’s argument in the controversy, after filing for bankruptcy and owing millions of dollars to victims of their clergy’s abuse, was that the government was not to intervene in the affairs of a private institution like the Catholic Church as they do public officials and government agencies. New Jersey Supreme Court Judge Peter Warwack sided with the diocese, objecting not to the state’s concern for sexual abuse survivors but the state’s request to dig back up allegations that present no imminent danger to the victims now.
The recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision does not arrive without precedent, however. In 2018, a grand jury revealed that the Church protected over 300 “predator priests” in the state of Pennsylvania—this inspired New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to assemble a task force to look into similar crimes in his own state. What he and his investigators found was nothing short of appalling.
Pedophilia is an alarmingly common crime reported by several victims of Catholic bishops and priests. Molestation in the Church became a hot media topic beginning in the 1980s. Survivors began speaking out from all across the world and demanding justice for their trauma. Austria, Australia, Argentina, and Ireland were affected by Church abuse stories from their citizens, just to name a few. In 2004, 4000 American Roman Catholic priests were accused of assaulting over 10,000 children, the majority of whom were, unsurprisingly, young boys.
The unanimous vote by the New Jersey Supreme Court is certainly a step toward correcting previous legal ignorance. New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Stuart Rabner ruled that since the Camden diocese did not submit a report known as a presentment to the lower court, predicting the result of the trial was “premature.” Thus, the presentation of evidence to the grand jury is simply the state’s “right.”
Next steps will entail the diocese turning in reports regarding sexual abuse, despite their attorney arguing that reform and change have been well-practiced since the allegations arose. As this case unfolds, so will the accounts of survivors who were silenced by not only this one New Jersey institution, but hopefully survivors of parishes across the nation. Better yet, the New Jersey decision may spark a global movement of holding Church members liable for their offenses.