John J. Myers

John J. Myers
Archbishop of Newark Ecclesiastical Superior of Turks and Caicos
Installed	July 24, 2001
Predecessor	Theodore Edgar McCarrick
Successor	current
Other posts	Coadjutor Bishop of Peoria (1987–1990) Bishop of Peoria (January 22, 1990 – 2001)
Orders
Ordination	December 17, 1966
Consecration	September 3, 1987
Personal details
Born	(1941-07-26) July 26, 1941 Earlville, Illinois
Alma mater	Pontifical Gregorian University North American College
Coat of arms

Styles of John J. Myers
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency, but he personally prefers Your Grace
Religious style	Archbishop

John Joseph Myers (born July 26, 1941 in Earlville, Illinois) is the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark (New Jersey, USA) and the Ecclesiastical Superior of Turks and Caicos. He was previously Bishop of Peoria.

Early years

The eldest of seven children, Myers has an ancestry that traces its roots to Ireland, England and France. Ancestors settled in northern Illinois in the late 19th century. The Myers family farmed land near Earlville, Illinois. Prayer was an important part of their family routine and John Myers became an altar server in his parish, St. Theresa, from an early age. He attended the Earlville schools and graduated from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa in 1963. While he was a student at Loras, Bishop John Baptist Franz offered Myers the opportunity to prepare for the priesthood in Rome.^[1]

Priesthood

He was ordained to the priesthood (by Bishop Francis Reh at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome) for the Diocese of Peoria (Illinois) on December 17, 1966. His education for the priesthood and as a priest included study in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University while attending seminary at the North American College, where he received the S.T.L., or licentiate (post-master's certification) in sacred theology, and a doctorate in church law, the J.C.D.^[1]

Episcopacy

John Myers, at 46, was consecrated Coadjutor Bishop of Peoria in 1987, with Peoria's Bishop Edward William O'Rourke as the principal consecrator, and Louisville's then-Archbishop, Thomas Cajetan Kelly, O.P., and the then-Bishop of Pittsburgh (now Cardinal and Archbishop of Washington, D.C.), Donald William Wuerl, serving as the co-consecrators. He served as Coadjutor Bishop of Peoria, and became Bishop of Peoria upon O'Rourke's resignation and retirement in 1990.

On July 24, 2001 he was appointed as the fifth Archbishop of Newark and third Superior of the Mission Sui Iuris of Turks and Caicos. He was installed October 9, 2001 and his Pallium was conferred on June 29, 2002.^[1]

Activities

Myers is active in the Canon Law Society of America, having worked with committees dealing with the Revised Code of Canon Law, diocesan fiscal officers, lay ministry, and diocesan governance, and served as a member of the CLSA Board of Governors. He helped present workshops on the revised Code of Canon Law for members of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.^[1]

Archbishop Myers also served as a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legal Texts at the Holy See. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees at The Catholic University of America; and serves on the board of the North American College and Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland.^[1]

His hobby is writing and is the co-author with Gary K. Wolf (creator of Roger Rabbit) of Space Vulture, a 1950s pulp sci-fi pastiche novel published by Tor Books in 2008.^[2]

Views

Myers has been both praised and criticized because of his strong conservative views and management style. Many praise his leadership and say he champions authentic Catholic doctrine at a time when many feel Catholics are drifting from strict observance. But his critics describe a domineering bishop who places undue emphasis on the letter of the law at the expense of compassion. Myers defended his actions stating: "We live our faith in communion with the church in Rome...It's sometimes difficult for us as Catholics to follow a way that appears to be different from what others in our society practice or believe. This can, understandably, cause confusion or frustration in some people."^[3] While Bishop of Peoria, Myers:

• Prevented Bishop Thomas Gumbleton (now-retired auxiliary of Detroit) from meeting with a progressive group in a church in the Peoria diocese.
• Admonished priests who give Holy Communion to pro-choice parishioners and divorced Catholics who remarry without getting an annulment.
• Refused to let diocesan teachers attend a national meeting for Catholic educators because one of the speakers was known to favor ordination of women and fired a parochial school teacher for permitting a debate on ordination of women.
• Supported the Cardinal Newman Society. Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb. (since retired), one of its stalwarts, has threatened to excommunicate Catholics who belong to liberal church organizations such as Call to Action.^[4]

On April 30, 2010, the Archbishop expressed concern about a planned offering of a course on same-sex marriage by his diocese's Catholic university, Seton Hall University, saying it "troubles me greatly".^[5][6]

Church sex scandal

In 2002, Archbishop Myers was among the two-thirds of sitting bishops and acting diocese administrators that the Dallas Morning News found had allowed priests accused of sexual abuse to continue working.^[7]

Myers has been linked to several cases in which priests convicted or accused of sexual abuse have either been shielded or transferred to positions where they would come in further contact with children, dating back to his days as a bishop in Peoria, IL.^[8]

In 2009 The Newark Archdiocese installed the Rev. Michael Fugee as chaplain at Saint Michael’s Medical Center in Newark. Fugee had signed a confession admitting to fondling a teenage boy and a jury convicted him in 2003 of criminal sexual contact, but that conviction was eventually overturned by an Appellate Court in 2006, for reasons unrelated to his admission.

In order to avoid a retrial Fugee then signed an agreement with the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office in 2007 agreeing to a lifetime ban prohibiting him from work that would put him in contact with children. The Archdiocese co-signed the agreement stating they would supervise Fugee and keep the agreement in force. However, by 2013 Fugee was again working with children, this time with the youth ministry at St. Mary’s Parish in Colts Neck, a parish outside of the Archdiocese. The Archdiocese has stated that it was unaware of the activities and that it would not have permitted Fugee to engage in them. The Bergen County Prosecutor is investigating possible criminal charges.

On Friday, November 8, 2013 Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli sharply rebuked Newark Archbishop John J. Myers, saying it was clear neither Myers nor his deputies made any significant effort to monitor Fugee as required under a previous memorandum of understanding. As noted in the previous paragraph Fugee signed the 2007 agreement to avoid retrial on charges he groped a teenage boy on multiple occasions. The prosecutor said he no longer had confidence in Myers and felt compelled to shift the supervision of Fugee from the archdiocese to the prosecutor’s office. In addition Fugee also declared he told the truth during previous depositions regarding his molestation of the teen, nullifying statements he made that his confession had been coerced. This stands in contrast to Myers' contention the Prosecutor's office had no reason to monitor Fugee or suspect him of wrongdoing. ^[9]

There are calls for Archbishop Myers to resign, including from members of the New Jersey legislature, because of his "outrageous" handling of an accused pedophile priest, the Rev. Michael Fugee. Archbishop Myers had reportedly allowed Fr. Fugee to minister to children despite a binding agreement entered into with the Prosecutor's Office that he would never work with children. See article: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/05/newark_archbishop_monmouth_cou.html#incart_river_default

In 2013, Archbishop Myers was given a coadjutor archbishop: Bernard Hebda, until then the bishop of Gaylord, Michigan.

Honours

On December 10, 2010 Myers received the honour Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus by Prince Victor Emmanuel in recognition of the Archbishop’s exemplary leadership as head of his large Catholic archdiocesan flock and as an important church and religious leader in America.^[10]

Episcopal succession

References

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