NEW YORK – Cardinal Joseph Tobin has ordered an independent review of the results of an independent investigation he ordered on behalf of Seton Hall University in 2019 regarding Theodore McCarrick, with a particular focus on references to the university’s current president Msgr. Joseph Reilly.
Reilly was appointed president of Seton Hall by the Board of Regents in 2024. In 2023, after a year sabbatical, he assumed a post as vice provost of academics and Catholic identity. Prior, from 2012-2022, he was the rector/dean of the university’s Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology.
Recent media reports have alleged that Reilly was appointed president of the university despite the 2019 investigation into the fallout from the McCarrick scandal finding multiple instances where Reilly, in his role as rector/dean, failed to properly report allegations of sex abuse on campus.
“Questions have been raised about internal reports concerning the actions and behavior of Theodore McCarrick and an investigation into those reports authorized by the Board of Regents over five years ago,” Tobin said in a Feb. 10 statement. “In those reports, there are references to Monsignor Joseph Reilly, who was appointed President of Seton Hall by the Board of Regents in 2024. Questions have been raised about whether Monsignor Reilly acted appropriately.”
Tobin, as archbishop of Newark, serves as the president of the Board of Regents and chair of the Board of Trustees at Seton Hall, which is the archdiocese’s Catholic university. He arrived in Newark in 2017.
McCarrick, an ex-cardinal and ex-priest who was laicized by Pope Francis in 2019 after a Vatican investigation found him guilty of abusing minors and adults, held the same roles when he was archbishop of Newark between 1986 and 2000. Over that time, the university’s 2019 investigation found that he “used his position of power as then-Archbishop of Newark to sexually harass seminarians.”
As it pertains to references to Reilly in the 2019 investigation, Tobin said he has retained the law firm Ropes & Gray LLP to conduct the review of the investigation, which was carried out by the Latham & Watkins law firm on behalf of Seton Hall. The review will also look into the development of the Responsive Action Plan by the Gibbons law firm and Attorney Joseph P. LaSala following the investigation.
“The review by Ropes & Gray will include how the findings of these reports relate to Monsignor Joseph Reilly, including whether they were communicated to any and all appropriate personnel at the Archdiocese and Seton Hall University and Monsignor Reilly, and if so, by what means and by whom,” Tobin said, adding that the review will have the full cooperation of the Board of Regents and university.
“I have not placed a timetable on this review by Ropes & Gray, nor have I restricted the firm from exploring any relevant facts or avenue of investigation,” Tobin said. “A transparent review of the facts will best serve the interests of all involved and of those who have voiced a call for it.”
Located in South Orange, New Jersey, Seton Hall has a total enrollment of about 10,000 students.
In his statement, Tobin denounced the “inexcusable actions and shameful behavior” of McCarrick. He said in his role he has and will continue to restore trust with the local Catholic communities.
“Since I became Archbishop in 2017, I have attempted to help heal the wounds from the sins of the recent past,” Tobin said. “Countless stories and reports make it clear that the Catholic Church has breached the trust that is at the core of its mission to provide spiritual guidance, support, and healing to those in need.”
“Under the leadership of Pope Francis, I attempt every day to restore that trust by serving as the moral and trusted voice for the Catholic Church and the communities I serve in northern New Jersey,” he said.
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