Posted on 06/28/2002 7:28:48 PM PDT by Dr. Scarpetta
PHILLIPSBURG, NJ --
A retired Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing at least 12 children served as a weekend priest in the St. Philip & St. James Catholic Church more than a decade ago.
The Rev. James T. Hanley on Wednesday became the first New Jersey priest to be defrocked since the sexual abuse scandal broke nationwide in January.
Hanley, 64, served at several Morris County parishes in the Diocese of Paterson, NJ since he was ordained in 1962.
He has been accused of sexually abusing children and teen-agers in at least three of the five parishes he served in from 1962 until he was ordered to retire in 1988.
After his retirement, he continued to celebrate Masses until 1990 as a so-called "freelance" priest and administered communion in his apartment building and wore the clerical collar.
That's when he served as a visiting priest at St. Philip & St. James, according to The Star-Ledger of Newark.
Monsignor Michael Corona, pastor at the church, confirmed through his secretary that Hanley worked at the parish as a weekend priest in the past. However, the monsignor did not recall exactly when, his secretary said.
Hanley stopped working at the parish due to an alcohol problem, the monsignor said through his secretary.
Earlier this year, one of Hanley's accusers in an interview with CNN said he tried to track down Hanley in Phillipsburg, NJ in 1990 to confront him about being abused while serving as an altar boy at a Mendham, N.J., parish where Hanley had been pastor.
A family member of the accuser, Mark Serrano, said Hanley wasn't in Phillipsburg when he arrived and people at the parish said they weren't familiar with the priest.
Hanley agreed to his removal from the priesthood on Wednesday after Paterson Bishop Frank Rodimer presented him with the new church policy on sexual abuse adopted by U.S. bishops last month.
The policy calls for the permanent removal from ministry of priests found to have even a single confirmed incident of abuse. It does not mandate priests be defrocked automatically, but does say steps should be taken except in cases when the priest is elderly or infirm.
While the process of removing a priest can take several years or more, Hanley's situation could be completed within the next few weeks because he personally asked to be removed.
No allegations of sexual abuse have surfaced as a result of Hanley's free-lance work at St. Philip & St. James.
Phillipsburg attorney Greg Gianforcaro is representing 12 men who allege Hanley molested them while he served in the Mendham parish.
The attorney is also representing two people allegedly abused by the priest when he served in Pompton Plains, N.J.
No civil complaint has been filed yet, Gianforcaro said, because the church has asked for some time to deal with the situation first.
"I hope the church will do the right thing," the attorney said. "I hope that Bishop Rodimer will do the right thing."
Gianforcaro described Hanley's removal from the priesthood as "a step in the right direction."
Gianforcaro said a meeting is scheduled for today between him and an attorney representing the Diocese of Paterson.
Hanley's accusers said they were glad to hear that he will no longer be a priest.
"This is awesome, awesome news," said Buddy Cotton, a victim who heads the New Jersey Chapter of the Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests.
"I'm filled with a mix of euphoria and a sense of tragedy," he said. "But as tragic a chapter as Hanley's (defrocking) is in this entire tragic story, it simply had to be done," Cotton said.
Reporter Tom Quigley can be reached at 908-475-8184 or by e-mail at txq@express-times.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Hanley, 64, served at several Morris County parishes in the Diocese of Paterson, NJ since he was ordained in 1962.
He has been accused of sexually abusing children and teen-agers in at least three of the five parishes he served in from 1962 until he was ordered to retire in 1988.
FYI Ping
This article was in one of my local papers.
One priest was arrested in a homosexual meeting place off of Rt. 3 in Clifton and was not removed from his High School teaching position at DePaul High School, in Wayne, NJ.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/703736/posts?page=43#43
Real leadership! /sarcasm
Are you from New Jersey, and was this info about the defrocking on Wed. in the Star Ledger or in your local paper? Also, what is the current status of the Bishop?
It's going to take me awhile to come to terms with some of these horrible things. Doing all these things that do not come naturally, they must have learned about some of the perverse acts through contacts. Their minds are very warped imo.
Women have their faults, but they aren't so inclined to get kinky unless they are predisposed or get way off track like some of the sluts on the net and down in the bars. Ordinary women seem to be content with more normal sorts of sex and are turned off when men stray into the netherworld of perversion. Wonder what makes men so goofy when they stray. We had a local (not priest) picked up for exposing himself to umpteen women. That is the last thing that would turn on most women. It's so sick and disgusting. I wonder if there is any connection psychologically.
We need a return to normalcy by the men in our society, if there ever was such a thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
www.nj.com/starledger
www.northjersey.com
They've been front-page news for about a week now and yes, the news about the defrocking has been in the paper, Hanley lives in a housing project in Paterson, so they say.
As far as Fr. Scurty and the homosexual happenings in the Diocese and the selling off of Pope Pius XII High School, none of this is in the papers it only appeared in THE WANDERER. Homosexuality is not a hot topic for liberal newspaper reporters so they have yet to write anything about priests getting arrested for lewed behavior of priest in public.
Only part of the price we are paying for these sins of lust. It's a shame!
AT OUR EXPENSE!
Most men are normal; I'm not sure that's true of most priests. I also would like priests who are (real) men.
The only reason the defrocking is even happening at this time is because of the conference in Dallas.
That's because you have a sense of morality, which these priests did not have.
I do know everyone's consciences are different, even within a religious system where everything is spelled out to the letter. All that despite the fact that we are told God has written his laws in our hearts.
These things should not be happening. They have, so I just have to live with the knowledge of them and not become embittered over it.
I've got lots of bumps and bruises in my soul, but somewhere deep inside of me, I still believe in beauty, honesty and goodness. No scandal will ever take that away from me because I won't let it.
I agree with you completely. We're on the same wave length.
The monster would be no more.
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