Nelson Mandela, the iconic anti-apartheid leader and political prisoner who rose to the presidency of South Africa, guiding its peaceful transition from racially oppressive rogue state to democracy, has died. … More A giant of racial and social justice: The death of Nelson Mandela
The Rev. Ray Leonard learned firsthand about government repression while serving the poor in Tibet. Back home in the U.S., he wasn’t about to let his own government infringe on religious liberty. … More The NJ priest who faced down the federal government — and won
New Jersey’s bishops won’t say where priests who were credibly accused of sexual abuse are living. … More Hidden priests, secret pasts
The Rev. Matthew Riedlinger was suspended from ministry after The Star-Ledger disclosed his sexually explicit text messages with a person he believed to be a teenage boy. … More Priest in sexting sting thought he was talking to 16-year-old boy, wanted to meet
Daylight revealed the panorama of devastation. The fire that roared through Seaside Park and Seaside Heights Thursday consumed restaurants and bars, clothing shops and arcades, candy stores and shacks sporting games of chance. Metal girders buckled. Walls caved in. T-shirts, boogie boards and boardwalk prizes — the stuff of a Jersey Shore summer — turned to ash. … More ‘This was a killer’: The Seaside Boardwalk Fire
Perhaps the discerning readers of Condé Nast Traveler have never taken in the pulsing, aromatic allure of Newark’s Ironbound enclave on a summer night. Perhaps they’ve never seen a concert at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. … More Newark named most unfriendly city in the world. You got a problem with that?
Parishioners at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Oradell first noticed the man in November. Each night, he slept in the rectory. Every morning, he attended Mass in the soaring brick church, across the street from the parish’s elementary school. What parishioners didn’t know — what neither their pastor nor the Archdiocese of Newark told … More Newark Archdiocese stirs outrage after allowing accused molester to live in parish
The line for the women’s restroom stretched more than 30 deep, spilling across the boardwalk. On the sand, colorful beach umbrellas sprouted like mushrooms on an untreated lawn. The barkers shouted to kids and couples, drawing them in to the water-gun challenge, the football throw, the fake frog toss. In Seaside Heights, on an Independence … More On day of nation’s birth, signs of rebirth at shore
The state Parole Board described his crime as an “abomination.” The attorney general called him a danger to the public. Stephen Finley spent three years in prison for stealing body parts from cadavers that passed through his Newark funeral home. But Finley, free once again, can’t seem to stay away from the dead. … More Convicted body-parts thief took job at crematory, sparking state probe
This story led to Michael Fugee’s arrest and removal from the priesthood. It also sparked widespread criticism of Archbishop John J. Myers and led to the reassignment of Myers’ top assistant. … More Priest works with kids despite lifetime ban
Mark Mueller Journalism 