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CV NEWS FEED // Cardinal Joseph Tobin of the Archdiocese of Newark announced Feb. 10 that a law firm is going to conduct a third-party review of a 2019 report related to serial abuser Theodore McCarrick that also references the current president of Seton Hall University, Monsignor Joseph Reilly, alleging that Reilly failed to report sexual abuse claims.
Cardinal Tobin, who serves as the university president of the Board of Regents and chair of the Board of Trustees, said Feb. 10 that he has tasked law firm Ropes & Gray LLP to lead “a comprehensive third-party review of the facts” related to the investigation and report that the firm Latham and Watkins firm conducted in 2019 on behalf of Seton Hall, as well as the Responsive Action Plan that another law firm had subsequently recommended.
“Questions have been raised about internal reports concerning the actions and behavior of Theodore McCarrick and an investigation into those reports authorized by the Board of Regents over five years ago,” Cardinal Tobin stated.
The new review, he later explained, “will include how the findings of these reports relate to Monsignor Joseph Reilly, including whether they were communicated to any and all appropriate personnel at the Archdiocese and Seton Hall University and Monsignor Reilly, and if so, by what means and by whom.”
Investigators of the McCarrick scandal discovered Msgr. Reilly’s alleged failure to report the cases, according to POLITICO.
In April 2024, Msgr. Reilly was appointed president of Seton Hall, which is under the stewardship of the Archdiocese of Newark. CatholicVote reported last month that New Jersey politicians and survivors of clergy sex abuse are calling for Msgr. Reilly to resign after POLITICO reported on a 2019 memo.
According to the memo, which did not accuse Msgr. Reilly of abusing anyone, the cleric reportedly failed to follow proper procedure for one sexual abuse allegation that occurred in 2012 and one sexual harassment allegation in 2014. The first case occurred at Immaculate Conception Seminary and the latter happened at Saint Andrew’s College Seminary. Both seminaries are a part of Seton Hall.
According to a December 2024 POLITICO report, the university approved a Responsive Action Plan in 2019 that stipulated that any employee or board member who knew of and failed to report sexual misconduct claims related to the seminaries could not retain a leadership position.
The Board of Regents and Seton Hall will cooperate fully with the Ropes & Gray review, Cardinal Tobin said in his Feb. 10 statement.
“I have not placed a timetable on this review by Ropes & Gray, nor have I restricted the firm from exploring any relevant facts or avenue of investigation,” Cardinal Tobin concluded. “A transparent review of the facts will best serve the interests of all involved and of those who have voiced a call for it.”
