Father Keith Pecklers
Ordained: 1984
Removed: N/A
Assigned as follows:
- St. Paul's (Jersey City, NJ)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Keith Pecklers:
Father Keith Pecklers was ordained a Jesuit priest of the New York Province and served in the Archdiocese of Newark. A prominent Jesuit scholar, he is a professor of liturgy at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He has written, contributed to or edited nine books, and is a frequent commentator on Vatican affairs for American media outlets, including the sex abuse scandals.
According to media reports, in December 2010, a man gave testimony before a NJ Senate Judiciary Committee that he was abused by Father Pecklers and a deacon while a 14-year-old teenager in 1976 at St. Paul's in Jersey City. Father Pecklers, the church's music director, was only 17 years old himself when the alleged abuse began. After a year, the alleged victim said he reported it to the church deacon, Thomas Stanford, who then continued abusing him repeatedly over the next two years.
"I thought I was the only one, so I never, ever spoke about it," said the man of his alleged abuse.
A settlement was reached in 2008. When asked about the allegation, Father Pecklers said no actual abuse could have taken place because he was not an adult at the time.
As of 2014, Father Pecklers is still an active priest and Jesuit scholar on staff at Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
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