Father Joseph Maffei
Diocese of Newark/Salesian
Ordained: 1958
Died: 2009
Assigned as follows:
- 1958-1967 St. Dominic Savio Juniorate, St. Dominic Savio Retreat House, Camp Salesian for Boys (Cedar Lake, IN)
- 1968-1970 Sacred Heart Juniorate (Ipswich, MA)
- 1970-1972 Eglise St. Domenico Savio (Montreal, Quebec/Canada
- 1972-1978 Salesian High School (New Rochelle, NY)
- 1978-1981 Sacred Heart Retreat House (Ipswich, MA)
- 1981-1984 Our Lady of the Rosary (Port Chester, NY)
- 1984-1989 St. Anthony (Elizabeth, NJ)
- 1989-1994 Don Bosco Retreat Center and Marian Shrine (West Haverstraw, NY
- 1994-2000 Salesian Provincial House (New Rochelle, NY)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Joseph Maffei:
Father Joseph Maffei was a native of Italy and came to the US in 1952. He was a priest of the Salesians of Don Bosco, Province of St. Philip the Apostle. He worked in minor seminaries, retreat houses for youth, and parishes in various locations throughout his career and served in the Archdiocese of Newark. He died in 2009.
According to media reports, in 2013, Father Maffei was accused in a lawsuit filed of having sexually abused a 12-year-old boy at the Marian Shrine in New Rochelle, New York, in 1978. The alleged abuse included explicit sexual behavior and lewd and lascivious conduct. He was assigned to Sacred Heart Retreat House in Ipswich, Massachusetts at the time. His accuser also said two other Salesian priests, Father Sean Rooney and Brother Alan Scheneman, abused him as well. The case was settled.
In 2021, It was reported that Maffei allegedly abused an 11-year-old altar boy in 1984 after a funeral service at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Elizabeth. The lawsuit alleges that the priest continued to abuse the boy for four years. Maffei died in 2009. He is listed on the Salesian’s 2021 List of Clergy Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of a Minor.
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