Decades of Disturbing Abuse at Elite Catholic School Set to Be Exposed

Disturbing new revelations about decades of alleged clergy abuse at New Jersey’s elite Delbarton School could soon be made public — and they may put a high-ranking church leader, tipped as a possible future cardinal, under intense scrutiny.

Auxiliary Bishop Elias R. Lorenzo, a potential successor to Newark Cardinal Joseph Tobin when he reaches retirement age in 2027, spent three decades teaching and serving in leadership roles at the all-boys Catholic school in Morristown. During his tenure, survivors and advocates say more than 30 students came forward with shocking abuse claims, some alleging they were assaulted hundreds of times by Benedictine monks.

The allegations are expected to resurface as part of a sweeping new grand jury investigation into clergy abuse across New Jersey, greenlit in June after the state’s Supreme Court cleared the way for prosecutors to proceed. Insiders say the probe will examine claims of systemic cover-ups at Delbarton, where tuition now tops $48,000 a year and alumni include “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage, Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe, and the sons of former Gov. Chris Christie.

For over a decade, the prestigious school has been rocked by lawsuits and headlines detailing abuse allegations against multiple clergy members, including a former headmaster. One 2021 suit claimed a seventh grader in the 1970s was raped and abused more than 150 times by three monks.

Lorenzo, who served as Prior of St. Mary’s Abbey — the Benedictine order that runs the school — from 1995 to 2002, later became rector of the Abbey Church and sat on the abuse review board until 2008, all while teaching at the school. Delbarton insists he had no decision-making power on the board, but survivors accuse the institution of silencing victims for years.

Tom Crane, whose 2018 lawsuit alleged he and his brother were sexually abused by monks in the 1970s, said the aftermath of coming forward was a “nightmare of intimidation.” SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, has demanded Lorenzo be removed from consideration for cardinal, accusing him of being “complicit in the cover-up.”

“It is unacceptable that someone who held authority during decades when so many students were being preyed upon should now be considered for further promotion,” said SNAP’s New Jersey coordinator, Mark Crawford. “Under Lorenzo’s watch, children were abused by wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

Prosecutors have not confirmed whether Lorenzo will be directly named in the probe, but attorneys representing dozens of Delbarton survivors believe the investigation will shed light on the full scope of the abuse and those who enabled it.