Monsignor James White, the pastor of Saint Vito-Most Holy Trinity Parish in Mamaroneck, has been placed on administrative leave following a sex abuse allegation filed with the Archdiocese of New York.
Worshippers in the Village of Mamaroneck parish received a letter from Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, on Friday. The Cardinal wrote that the alleged abuse occurred “decades ago,” and that it came to light under New York State’s Child Victim’s Act which recently opened a one-year window in the statute of limitations for victims to file claims.
Cardinal Dolan stressed that the Monsignor is only accused, not convicted. “The (administrative) leave is not a punishment,” he wrote “and no judgement has been made about the accusation; Monsignor White continues to have the presumption of innocence.”
The Archdiocese has assigned Monsignor Donald Dwyer, the pastor of Resurrection parish in neighboring Rye to oversee the day-to-day operations at St. Vito-Holy Trinity.
Monsignor White was at one time a rising star in the Archdiocese who was listed as an associate pastor at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and served on the staff of the late John Cardinal O’Conner. He was reportedly the youngest member of his seminary class to earn the rank of Monsignor but his rising career was apparently interrupted by a misdemeanor drug arrest back in 1998.
Monsignor White’s parish was created in 2014 when the Archdiocese decided to merge St. Vito’s and Most Holy Trinity parishes leaving the Village of Mamaroneck with only one Roman Catholic Church. Parish masses are are held in the old St. Vito’s church on Underhill Avenue in Mamaroneck.