Two NJ priests step down as church investigates allegations

Deena Yellin | NorthJersey

Show Caption Hide Caption Analyst: Catholic abuse report a 'wake up call" A priest and religion expert says the scathing report released this week accusing hundreds of Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania of molesting more than 1,000 children since the 1940s is a "wake up call to other dioceses in the country." (Aug. 15)

Two New Jersey priests have stepped down from their parishes as church authorities investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against them.

The Rev. Gerard Sudol, who had been cleared of previous allegations years ago, stepped down over the weekend from his position as reverend in residence at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Jersey City after a new accuser came forward.

And the Rev. Jim Weiner of St. Andrew's Church in Westwood stepped down from his parish after church officials said they were reopening an investigation into misconduct after new information surfaced.

According to the St. Andrew's website, his installation as pastor of the church, scheduled for Sept. 15, has been canceled.

Both men are under renewed investigation by the Archdiocese of Newark and had been asked to leave their ministries until decisions have been rendered, said James Goodness, spokesman for the archdiocese.

Ed Hanratty, a native of Ridgefield Park, alleges that the sexual misconduct of Sudol was well-known among parishoners of the St. Francis of Assisi Church in Ridgefield Park, where Sudol served from 1986 to 1994.

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Hanratty, who was an altar boy at the church, recalls Sudol giving him bearhugs, open-mouthed kisses and trying to force his tongue into his mouth. The most serious offenses occurred one afternoon when he and Sudol were alone in his family's swimming pool, said Hanratty, who recently went public with his story — inspired, he said, by a Pennsylvania grand jury report released this month.

Now Hanratty is angry.

"I don't know why he was let back around children in the first place," he sad. "Of all the parishes in the archdiocese why was he sent to one with a school?"

Goodness acknowledged the archdiocese received complaints against Sudol in the mid-1990s but said he was permitted to return to ministry on a limited basis — "In a hospital setting." After the investigation was reopened in 2002, amid a widespread sex-abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, the church acquitted Sudol, so he was permitted to return to ministry, he said.

Goodness said that all the accusations made against Sudol and Weiner were reported to law enforcement but no criminal charges were ever filed.

"We provide all new accusations to law enforcement the second they come in to us," said Goodness. "They advise us if they are going to prosecute."

Goodness said Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, removed Sudol because of new information and renewed attention on the case.

Hanratty, a freelance journalist, went public with his allegations and helped to start a Facebook group, RP Strong, to discuss abuse at St Francis in Ridgefield Park and its "impact on the community we love, and most importantly how we can share information and organize to ensure a happy ending to this dark chapter."

Father Desmond Rossi, a priest in the Diocese of Albany, has accused Weiner and another man (who has since died) of sexually assaulting him in 1988 in a Newark church when he was studying for the priesthood. He said that the incident left him traumatized, and he later left the priesthood for years, before returning last year.

The men who allegedly assaulted him were ordained shortly after the assault and assigned to parishes in New Jersey. Years later, Rossi went to the Newark Archdiocese with his accusation. The review board found it to be credible, but took no action because it could not be substatiated.

Tobin recently reopened the case as a result of new information and at the request of Rossi, said Goodness. Another priest told NorthJersey.com and USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey that Rossi told him about the assault shortly after it happened. The priest said he is now prepared to testify in Rossi's behalf.

Rossi said he was gratified to hear the news that Weiner had stepped down from his post. "The archdiocese is proceeding with caution to make sure there are no other victims," he said. "They are doing the right thing."

On Wednesday, Rossi is holding a demonstration against church sexual abuses in front of Newark's Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart. The aim of the National Day for Reform, he said, is to gather the community together for prayer as well as to call for changes that will lead the church back to holiness, he said.

Rossi, a native of Garwood, said it's important for people in the Catholic community to gather to discuss the future.

"We need to talk about what needs to happen as we go forward within the church," Rossi said.

Email: yellin@NorthJersey.com Staff Writer Abbott Koloff contributed to this report.