Cardinal Orders Review Of Abuse Investigation Tied To Seton Hall President

New Jersey's highest-ranking Catholic Church leader on Monday said he had hired a law firm to conduct a "comprehensive third-party review" of a 2019 investigation into sexual abuse at Seton Hall University that implicated its new president.

The announcement by Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the archbishop of the Diocese of Newark, follows reporting by POLITICO that the university promoted Monsignor Joseph Reilly to the presidency despite recommendations, which the university adopted, that he be removed from school boards and the leadership position he held at the time.

Reilly, then the leader of one of the school's seminaries that trains students for priesthood, was not accused of abuse, but investigators found in 2019 that he knew of sexual abuse allegations and did not properly report them. The 2019 investigation, conducted by the law firm Latham & Watkins, was launched after former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was accused of decades of sexual abuse.

Tobin said on Monday he had hired the firm Ropes & Gray to review the facts regarding the investigation and the Latham & Watkins report, "as well as any and all other findings, including the development of the Responsive Action Plan" that the university adopted.

"The review by Ropes & Gray 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," Tobin said in a statement. "The Ropes & Gray review will have the full cooperation of the Board of Regents and Seton Hall University."

Tobin added that he had not given a timetable for the review, "nor have I restricted the firm from exploring any relevant facts or avenue of investigation. A transparent review of the facts will best serve the interests of all involved and of those who have voiced a call for it."

Seton Hall has strongly defended Reilly, with Board of Regents Chair Hank D'Alessandro saying that “recent news stories have falsely and unfairly portrayed him." The findings about Reilly prompted calls for his resignation in recent weeks from state lawmakers, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy urged the Catholic university to release its internal report on Reilly. The university has ignored those calls.

In 2018, the university hired a pair of law firms — Latham & Watkins and Gibbons P.C. — to investigate sexual abuse claims following credible allegations against McCarrick, the longtime archbishop of the Newark diocese and later the top Catholic leader in Washington, D.C.

That review found decades of sexual harassment and a “culture of fear and intimidation” under McCarrick, according to a summary published by the university.

A separate memo with key findings of the investigation was delivered to the Board of Regents, the university’s governing body. It detailed how Reilly, then rector and dean of the school’s Immaculate Conception Seminary, investigated a student complaint of sexual assault “in house” and did not report it or follow the school and federal Title IX policies and procedures. It also said Reilly dismissed a seminarian in 2012 who was an alleged victim of sexual abuse without investigating the incident or escalating the matter, a violation of university policy.

Reilly, who once served as priest secretary to McCarrick, also told investigators that he received information about a 2014 allegation of sexual harassment at St. Andrew’s Hall, a seminary at Seton Hall, but did not report it.

In his announcement, Tobin acknowledged that "questions have been raised about whether Monsignor Reilly acted appropriately."

Seton Hall is a diocesan university within the Archdiocese of Newark, and the archbishop serves as president of the university’s Board of Regents and chair of the Board of Trustees. In the Roman Catholic Church, the archbishop of a diocese has the “ultimate” authority over it.

"Since I became Archbishop in 2017, I have attempted to help heal the wounds from the sins of the recent past. Countless stories and reports make it clear that the Catholic Church has breached the trust that is at the core of its mission to provide spiritual guidance, support, and healing to those in need," Tobin said. "Under the leadership of Pope Francis, I attempt every day to restore that trust by serving as the moral and trusted voice for the Catholic Church and the communities I serve in northern New Jersey."