1 Manville Priest Named On The 'Credibly Accused' List

MANVILLE, NJ — The journalism site ProPublica, a Patch Partner, recently released the most comprehensive list so far of Catholic clergy "credibly accused" of sexual abuse. The list includes one accused abusers with ties to Manville.

He has since been permanently restricted from the priesthood due to the allegations.

The searchable database — which includes nearly 200 priests accused from the dioceses of Metuchen, Newark, Trenton, Camden and Paterson — comes on the heels of various reports identifying hundreds of "predator" priests across the state.

RELATED: Full List Released Of NJ Catholic Clergy Accused Of Sex Assault

Here is the one priest on the ProPublic list with Manville ties:

Joseph R. Punderson

Punderson, who was born in 1948 and ordained in 1976, served at a number of parishes including locally at Christ the King in Manville. He also served at St. Mary in Trenton, Sacred Heart in Trenton, Vice Chancellor in Diocese of Trenton, Morris Hall in Lawrenceville (Chaplain), and Apostolic Signatura at the Vatican.

Punderson, a senior official of the Vatican’s highest court, was removed from his post late in 2018 after he was found to be credibly accused of the sexual abuse of a minor, according to cruxnow.com.

ProPublica's project was spurred by a 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report, which named hundreds of priests as part of a statewide clergy abuse investigation.

Nationwide, the names of more than 5,800 clergy members have been released so far, representing the most comprehensive step toward transparency yet by a Catholic Church dogged by its long history of denying and burying abuse by priests.

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