Garabedian represents James Grein, who alleges in a lawsuit that McCarrick abused him for decades, starting when he was 11 years old and living in North Jersey in the 1960s. Grein alleged that he told Pope John Paul II about the abuse in 1988 while on a trip to Rome with McCarrick. The lawsuit names McCarrick as a defendant, along with the Newark Archdiocese and the Metuchen Diocese.
The Vatican report, issued Nov. 10, 2020, revealed that Pope John Paul II had second thoughts about promoting McCarrick, then the Archbishop of Newark, to lead the Washington Archdiocese in 2000. It said three New Jersey bishops, including Hughes, provided misleading statements to the Vatican to dispel those concerns.