A Bergen County man who says he was sexually abused by former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick beginning at age 11 has reached a civil settlement with the Archdiocese of Newark and the Diocese of Metuchen, his lawyer announced Thursday. James Grein, 67, has long accused McCarrick of misconduct stretching across years and states and has pursued multiple legal actions to hold church institutions accountable. His attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, said the payment to resolve the New Jersey claims was in the “high six figures.”
Attorney announces settlement
Garabedian disclosed the agreement during a Zoom news conference and praised Grein’s persistence and bravery, as reported by NJ.com. Grein did not appear on the call but issued a written statement calling the move toward settlement an “important and prayerful step” in his pursuit of healing and truth. According to Garabedian, the deal resolves Grein’s claims against the Newark and Metuchen dioceses while other litigation continues in other states.
Allegations and timeline
Court filings say the abuse began when Grein was 11 and continued through roughly 2000, with incidents alleged in New Jersey and beyond, according to reporting and public records compiled by survivor trackers and legal filings. The accusations against McCarrick have been widely documented over several years, and coverage indicates that Grein has separately filed lawsuits in New York in 2019 and 2023 that remain active. Those parallel cases mean the New Jersey settlement does not exhaust all claims tied to Grein’s allegations.
Context: dioceses face larger payouts
The Grein settlement arrives amid a wave of large payouts and bankruptcy-era resolutions by Catholic institutions in the region. In February, the Diocese of Camden announced a proposed $180 million plan to resolve claims from more than 300 survivors in a historic bankruptcy deal. That proposal was also reported nationally by The Associated Press, and lawyers for victims say similar trust funds, insurer contributions and revived filing windows have pushed many dioceses toward negotiated resolutions rather than protracted trials.
Why the cases are moving now…