Newark Archdiocese settles abuse claims against retired bishop who denies allegations

NEWARK, N.J. (OSV News) -- The Archdiocese of Newark has settled two claims of sexual abuse against retired Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio, dating back more than 50 years -- when he was a priest in Jersey City -- the lawyer for the plaintiffs announced on Aug. 6.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian said the settlements were reached through a mediation process, adding that one plaintiff, Mark Matzek, now 62, received a "mid-six-figure" settlement and that a second plaintiff, Samier Tadros, now 52, received a settlement in the "low six-figures."

The settlement was reached between the Newark Archdiocese and the plaintiffs. It did not involve Bishop DiMarzio, 81, who retired as head of the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, in 2021.

"As I have said from the very beginning, in my 50-plus-year priesthood, I never abused anyone," Bishop DiMarzio said in a statement after the settlements were announced. "I was the subject of an exhaustive, two-year canonical investigation that cleared me. I took a lie detector test and passed it."

He said, "I did not authorize these settlements because I did not abuse anyone."

Bishop DiMarzio writes a regular "Walking with Migrants" column for both OSV News and The Tablet, the Brooklyn Diocese's newspaper.

Garabedian, who is well-known for his representation of dozens of Boston-area survivors in the first surge of the U.S. clerical abuse crisis, held an online Aug. 6 press briefing regarding the settlements.

Tadros participated in the press call, saying the alleged abuse is something he thinks of "every single day."

"It affects my relationship, my everyday life," said Tadros. "It affected me with my first marriage; it affected me growing up. I was not able to go into the field that I wanted to as a career. It affected my marriage with my present wife. ... Even if I'm just sitting here paying bills online, I start thinking of it."

On Sept. 1, 2021, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith announced that it found the allegations "not to have the semblance of truth" after its nearly two-year investigation, exonerating Bishop DiMarzio.

The alleged abuse took place in Matzek's case between 1973 and 1976 when he was an altar server at St. Nicholas Church in Jersey City, according to Garabedian. In Tadros' case, Garabedian said the alleged abuse took place at Holy Rosary Church in Jersey City from 1979 to 1980.

"These cases were settled by the Archdiocese of Newark as a business decision. Bishop DiMarzio did not authorize or approve the settlements, nor did he participate in any settlement negotiations," Joseph A. Hayden, a lawyer representing Bishop DiMarzio, told The Tablet in response to the announcement. "The settlement agreements specifically state that there is no admission of liability by any person."

The allegations leveled by Matzek against Bishop DiMarzio came to light in 2019 after Bishop DiMarzio completed an apostolic visitation to the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, at the behest of the Vatican, to investigate whether charges of clergy sexual abuse in that diocese were mishandled.

Garabedian, who was representing several accusers in Buffalo at the time, claimed that the Buffalo Diocese's investigation was tainted because Bishop DiMarzio was himself accused of sexual abuse. Matzek went public with his allegations in 2019 and filed a lawsuit in 2021.
Tadros came forward with his accusations and filed suit in 2021.

In the Vatican probe into the allegations against Bishop DiMarzio, which began in 2020 under "Vos Estis Lux Mundi," the process set up to investigate clergy sexual abuse, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York was tasked with leading the investigation and hired an outside law firm, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, to conduct the probe. Then, former FBI director Louis Freeh was hired to conduct the third-party investigation.

In a statement, the Archdiocese of Newark said it reached the settlements to bring the matter to a close.

"The settlements are not an admission of fact or liability," the statement read, in part. "The Archdiocese of Newark chose to settle the lawsuits to avoid the costs of litigation and help bring resolution to painful matters for everyone involved."

Bishop DiMarzio, who served as a priest and auxiliary bishop in the Newark Archdiocese and later as bishop of Camden, New Jersey, was appointed bishop of Brooklyn in 2003. He retired in 2021 at 77, serving two years beyond the age at which canon law requires bishops to submit their resignation to the pope.