Father Gerald Ruane
Archdiocese of Newark
Ordained: 1960
Removed: 2004
Died: 2015
Assigned as follows:
- Holy Trinity (Westfield, NJ)
- Sacred Heart Institute (West Caldwell, NJ)
- Caldwell College (Caldwell, NJ)
- Our Lady of Lourdes (West Orange, NJ)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Gerald Ruane:
Father Gerald Ruane was ordained a priest in 1960 and served in the Archdiocese of Newark. He served in multiple parishes throughout his career. According to media reports, in 2002, he was accused of sexually abusing a boy in the 1970s and 1980s. A second accuser also stepped forward later. After investigation, the Archdiocese of Newark’s internal review board found the allegations credible despite Father Ruane’s denial of the allegations.
One of the alleged victims said he was introduced to Father Ruane for spiritual strength and support after the death of his father. “Throughout the rest of my childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, Father Ruane subjected me to sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse. Father Ruane told me during our earliest encounters that, since I no longer had a father, I required ‘ten hugs a day by a man to grow up normal.’”
In 2004, Archbishop Myers permanently banned Father Ruane from public ministry after investigating another allegation that Father Ruane molested a boy, but Myers did not publicly notify lay people or other priests. Father Ruane continued to say Mass and wear his collar in public.
In 2005, the Newark Star-Ledger located Father Ruane saying a public mass, a violation of the restrictions that Myers quietly placed upon him. Only then was his name publicly released as a credibly accused child molester.
Father Ruane died in 2015.
In February 2019, Father Ruane’s name appeared on the Archdiocese of Newark’s list of credibly accused priests, which stated that he was the subject of “multiple” credible allegations of abuse.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused in the Archdiocese of Newark, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Archdiocese of Newark now have legal options, but filing deadlines will apply so do not delay in reaching out to us. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in New Jersey and nationwide. We can help.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.