Father John "Jack" Connor
Diocese of Camden
Ordained: 1962
Restricted ministry: 1993
Removed from ministry: 2002
Assigned as follows:
- St. Francis of Assisi (Vineland, NJ)
- St. Mary (Gloucester, NJ)
- Paul VI High School, Haddon Township, NJ)
- St. Rose (Haddon Heights, NJ)
- Bishop Eustace Preparatory School (Cherry Hill, NJ)
- St. John (Collingswood, NJ)
- Transferred to the Diocese of Pittsburgh
- St. Alphonsus (Wexford, PA)
- St. James, Sewickley, PA)
- Immaculate Conception (Bridgton, NJ)
- St. Teresa of Avila, Bridgeton (NJ)
- Sacred Heart Priest Residence (NJ)
- Chaplain Bridgeton/Millville Hospitals (ME)
- Vianney Renewal Center (Dittmer, MO)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Father John "Jack" Connor:
John "Jack" Connor was ordained a priest in 1962 for the Diocese of Camden. He served in multiple parishes throughout his career. According to media reports, in 1984 he was arrested on charges of molesting a 14-year-old boy during a weekend trip to Cape May. At the time, Connor was a theology teacher and golf coach at Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in Pennsauken. He admitted the abuse and was placed in a special court program under which his arrest was expunged after a period of good behavior.
According to the 2018 Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, after Connor's arrest, the Diocese of Camden Bishop, George H. Guilfoyle, transferred Connor to the Pittsburgh Diocese, then headed by Bishop Anthony J. Bevilacqua. A church memo called the transfer a "tradition of bishops helping bishops."
When Bevilacqua took over the Philadelphia Archdiocese, Connor followed him. Bevilacqua told his new pastor in Conshohocken that Connor needed to be near his sick mother - saying nothing about sex abuse. At that parish, Connor singled out a boy for attention and gifts. The boy's mother became convinced that Connor had molested her son, though the boy denied it.
Connor was removed from ministry in 2002 following the coverage of the scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston. A Philadelphia grand jury later said Bevilacqua had been "untruthful" when he claimed a lack of knowledge about Connor's past.
After learning that a lawsuit was in the works, the grand jury said Bevilacqua shipped Connor back to the Diocese of Camden in 1993. There, church officials placed him in "restricted ministry," limiting his contact with children by making him a hospital chaplain in Bridgeton.
Connor's name appears on the February 2019 Diocese of Camden list of credibly accused priests. According to Bishop Sullivan, the list, "includes those who admitted to the abuse, those who were found guilty after a trial in the church courts or the civil courts, and others against whom the evidence was so overwhelming as to be virtually unquestionable."
He is now believed to be residing in a retirement community for priests in New Jersey.
Contact us today.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Camden. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in New Jersey, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Camden may have legal options, but filing deadlines will apply so please do not delay in reaching out to us.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com to discuss your options today.