Priest Assignment Records and Case Details Released

The Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian has obtained settlements or arbitration awards for many victims and survivors who suffered sexual abuse by clergy or church personnel. The list can be found at at www.garabedianlaw.com/results-list. 

The firm added:

Detailed information on the assignment records and claim history of these abusers, together with sources, can be accessed by reading below as well as in the pdfs lnked above.

Please check back regularly as additional information is planned for release.

Monsignor J. Francis Feenan – Diocese of Paterson

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
Approx. 1953 Ordained in the Diocese of Paterson
1954 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Morristown, NJ
1955 – 1964 Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Boonton, NJ
1956 – 1958 “Director of the Catholic Youth Organization, Dover – Boonton”
1965 – 1966 St. James of the Marches Church, Totowa Borough, NJ
1967 – 2003 St. Thomas More Church, Convent Station, NJ
2004 – 2010 “Retired”
Source:
  • The Official Catholic Directory, Kenedy & Sons

(The years listed above are the publication years of the Official Catholic Directory. According to the Directory, the assignments provided for a given year are effective as of January 1 of that year. This means that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year at a parish or school was likely at the same assignment for at least part of the previous year as well.)

Summary:
  • Monsignor Feenan died in 2010.
  • Monsignor J. Francis Feenan was accused of sexually abusing a woman on approximately three occasions from approximately 1979 to 1980 when the woman was approximately twenty-five years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Monsignor Feenan (then known as Father Feenan) was assigned to St. Thomas More Church in Convent Station, New Jersey, and the woman was a CCD teacher at St. Thomas More Church.
  • The sexual abuse by Monsignor Feenan included the following: Monsignor Feenan fondled the woman’s breasts and genitals under her clothing, skin-on-skin; and Monsignor Feenan forced the woman to masturbate Monsignor Feenan until he ejaculated.
  • The claim settled in February 2020 in the high five figures.

Father Romano J. Ferraro – Diocese of Brooklyn, Diocese of Methuen

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
1960 Ordained in the Diocese of Brooklyn
1961 – 1962 St. Joseph Patron of the Universal Church, Brooklyn, NY
1963 St. Rosalia’s Church, Brooklyn, NY
1964 St. Lucy’s Church, Brooklyn, NY
1965 – 1968 Holy Family Church, Brooklyn, NY
1969 – 1970 Chaplain, United States Navy
1971 – 1973 St. Rose of Lima Church, Rockaway Beach, NY
1974 – 1977 Sick leave – Diocese of Brooklyn
1978 In residence, St. Francis Xavier Church, Brooklyn, NY
1979 In residence, St. Aloysius Church, Queens, NY
1979 Chaplain, Wyckoff Heights Hospital
1980 – 1984 Sick leave – Diocese of Brooklyn
1985 – 1986 Released from diocesan assignment – listed as residing at St. James Church, Woodbridge, NJ
1985 Our Lady of Mount Virgin Church, Middlesex, NJ
1986 St. John Vianney Church, Colonia, NJ
1987 Released from diocesan assignment – listed with the address P.O. Box C, Brooklyn, NY
1988 – 1989 Sick leave – Diocese of Brooklyn
1990 – 1992 Sick leave – listed as residing at Parsons Manor, Jamaica, NY
1993 – 2002 Absent on leave – listed as residing at Parsons Manor, Jamaica, NY
Source:
  • The Official Catholic Directory, Kenedy & Sons

(The years listed above are the publication years of the Official Catholic Directory. According to the Directory, the assignments provided for a given year are effective as of January 1 of that year. This means that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year at a parish or school was likely at the same assignment for at least part of the previous year as well.)

Father Ferraro is not indexed after the 2002 Official Catholic Directory.

Father Merle Fisher - Marist Fathers

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
1960 Ordained
1961 – 1962 Unknown / Not indexed
1963 St. Peter Chanel Seminary, San Rafael, CA (Archdiocese of San Francisco)
1964 – 1967 All Hallows Church, San Francisco, CA (Archdiocese of San Francisco)
1968 – 1973 Holy Cross Church, Kalaheo, HI (Diocese of Honolulu)
1974 All Hallows Church, San Francisco, CA
1975 – 1978 Star of the Sea Church, Honolulu, HI (Diocese of Honolulu)
1979 Notre Dame des Victoires Church, San Francisco, CA (Archdiocese of San Francisco)
1980 – 1990 St. Paul’s Church, Nampa, ID (Diocese of Boise)
1991 – 1996 St. Catherine Church, Kapaa, HI (Diocese of Honolulu)
1997 – 1999 Not indexed
2000 Notre Dame des Victoires Church, San Francisco, CA (Archdiocese of San Francisco)
2001 St. Louis King of France Church, St. Paul, MN (Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis)
Source:
  • The Official Catholic Directory, Kenedy & Sons

(The years listed above are the publication years of the Official Catholic Directory. According to the Directory, the assignments provided for a given year are effective as of January 1 of that year. This means that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year at a parish or school was likely at the same assignment for at least part of the previous year as well.)

Father Fisher died in 2001.

Summary:
  • Father Merle Fisher, S.M. was accused of sexually abusing a male minor child on at least six occasions from approximately 1967 to 1970 when the boy was approximately 8 to 11 years old. During the period of sexual abuse, Father Fisher was assigned to Holy Cross Church in Kalaheo, Hawaii.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Fisher occurred in the rectory affiliated with Holy Cross Church and included the following: Father Fisher smacked and squeezed the boy’s buttocks, skin-on-skin, and Father Fisher fondled the boy’s penis and testicles, skin-on-skin.
  • The claim settled in 2020 in the low six figures.

Father Joseph L. Fitzharris – Archdiocese of Chicago

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
1962 Ordained
1963 - 1967 St. Louis de Marillac's Church in La Grange Park, IL
1968 – 1973 St. Aloysius' Church in Chicago, IL
1974 – 1979 St. Fidelis's Church in Chicago, IL
1980 – 1986 St. Francis Xavier's Church in Chicago, IL
1987 St. Bartholomew's Church in Waukegan, IL
1988 Not Indexed
1989 St. Genevieve's Church in Chicago, IL
1990 – 1991 St. Pascal's Church in Chicago, IL
1992 – 1995 Not Indexed
Source:
  • The Official Catholic Directory, Kenedy & Sons

(The years listed above are the publication years of the Official Catholic Directory. According to the Directory, the assignments provided for a given year are effective as of January 1 of that year. This means that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year at a parish or school was likely at the same assignment for at least part of the previous year as well.)

 

  1. Father Conran Free, C.P. - Congregation of the Passion (“Passionists”) - Diocese of Scranton
  2. Father Lawrence Gadek – Archdiocese of Newark
  3. Father Richard M. Galdon – Archdiocese of Newark
  4. Father Brian Gallagher, S.S.C.
  5. Father Vincent J. Gallo – Diocese of Brooklyn
  6. Father Michael Garry – Diocese of Trenton
  7. Father James M. Gibbons - Archdiocese of Boston
  8. Father Augustine M. Giella – Diocese of Harrisburg
  9. Father Denis Ginty – Archdiocese of Los Angeles
  10. Father J. Gerard Griffin– Diocese of Trenton, Diocese of Springfield
  11. Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez
  12. Monsignor James J. Haddad - Archdiocese of Boston
  13. Father Michael H. Hansen – Archdiocese of Newark
  14. Father Patrick J. Healy – Diocese of Erie
  15. Monsignor Herman Heide – Archdiocese of New York
  16. Father Douglas U. Hermansen – Diocese of Trenton
  17. Father Charles Herr – Archdiocese of Newark
  18. Father Donald Hickey – Diocese of Trenton
  19. Father Daniel M. Holihan – Archdiocese of Chicago
  20. Father Ernest Karl Huller – Diocese of Springfield
  21. Monsignor Thomas M. Jordan – Diocese of Scranton
  22. Father Charles Kane – Archdiocese of Boston
  23. Father Thomas C. Kelley – Diocese of Erie
  24. Monsignor Joseph P. Kelly – Diocese of Scranton
  25. Father Robert J. Klem, C.S.B. – Congregation of St. Basil, a.k.a. the Basilians, and the Diocese of Rochester
  26. Father Eugene Kwapisz, O.F.M. Conv. - Order of Minors Friar Conventual, St. Anthony of Padua Province - Diocese of Trenton
  27. Serio “Charlie” La Penna - Archdiocese of Boston
  28. Father Victor C. LaVoie - Archdiocese of Boston
  29. Father Roger R. Leblanc - Archdiocese of Boston
  30. Father Theodore F. Llanos – Archdiocese of Los Angeles
  31. Father Salvatore Luzzi – Diocese of Erie
  32. Father Gerald F. Lyons – Diocese of Trenton
  33. Father Patrick Francis Magee – Diocese of Trenton
  34. Monsignor Daniel Martin – Diocese of Erie
  35. Father George Maslar, O.M.F.Conv. (Conventual Franciscans)
  36. Father James McAuliffe – Diocese of Scranton
  37. Father Maurus McBarron, O.S.B. (Benedictines)
  38. Father Paul R. McCarthy – Archdiocese of Boston
  39. Father James McDonnell – Archdiocese of Philadelphia
  40. Father Joseph McHugh – Diocese of Trenton