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Cardinal: New Jersey will release names of accused priests

The Catholic church in New Jersey will release the names of priests credibly accused of abusing children early next year, in conjunction with the state Attorney General's office's investigation, the church's highest-ranking cleric announced Monday.

This Dec. 1, 2012 file photo shows a silhouette of a crucifix and a stained glass window inside a Catholic Church. The Catholic church in New Jersey will release the names of priests credibly accused of abusing children early next year, in conjunction with the state attorney general's office's investigation, the church's highest-ranking cleric announced Monday.
This Dec. 1, 2012 file photo shows a silhouette of a crucifix and a stained glass window inside a Catholic Church. The Catholic church in New Jersey will release the names of priests credibly accused of abusing children early next year, in conjunction with the state attorney general's office's investigation, the church's highest-ranking cleric announced Monday.Read moreGerald Herbert / Associated Press

NEWARK, N.J. — The Catholic Church in New Jersey will release the names of priests credibly accused of abusing children early next year, in conjunction with an investigation by the state Attorney General's Office, the church's highest-ranking cleric announced Monday.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, head of the Archdiocese of Newark, also said the church would establish a fund to compensate victims of clergy abuse in New Jersey, including cases in which the legal statute of limitations has expired.

The fund will be established by the Newark Archdiocese as well as the Dioceses of Camden, Paterson, Trenton, and Metuchen. It also will pay for counseling for those who have been victimized, according to the announcement.

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal launched a task force in September to investigate the clergy abuse scandal. That inquiry followed a lengthy grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania that concluded that more than 1,000 children in that state had been abused over a span of decades by about 300 priests.

The task force will have the power to subpoena evidence and present it to a grand jury. Investigators will probe whether the state's dioceses have complied with a 2002 memorandum of understanding that abuse complaints would be reported to law enforcement.

The New Jersey Catholic Conference, which represents the state's bishops on policy matters, has said it is fully cooperating and is confident the dioceses are in compliance with the memorandum.

After the launch of the task force, an abuse victim hotline established by the state received so many calls that more staff had to be added, Grewal said at the time.

That same month, the New Jersey Catholic Conference said sex abuse victims required to keep quiet by settlement agreements may speak publicly about their ordeals.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has barred such agreements since 2002 unless a victim requests confidentiality. Victims who had signed agreements before 2002 can now come forward, the New Jersey conference said. It's unclear how many of the agreements were made before 2002.