Rev. Saul Ayala-Assignment

Assignment Record– Rev. Saul Ayala

Summary of Case: In June 2002 an allegation of "sexual harassment and misconduct involving a minor" was filed with the church by a woman. Ayala was placed on leave. In September 2002 two sisters filed suit alleging Ayala abused them in 1988 and 1989 when they were ages 7 and 9, while he baby-sat them. Diocese settled with them for $30,000 in 2004. Ayala moved to Mexico shortly after he was placed on leave; he was possibly in active ministry there.

Ordained: 1971

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1972	1982					Not indexed in the 1973-1982 Directories
1982 San Bernardino bishop was Phillip Francis Straling (1978-1995)	1984	St. Edward's	Corona	CA	4/4	St. Edward's had a school with 371-395 students.
1984	1986	St. Joseph's	Barstow	CA	2/2	St. Joseph's had a school with 223 students.
1984	1986	Our Lady of the Desert	Baker	CA		This was a mission of St. Joseph's in Barstow.
1986	1989	Our Lady of Guadalupe	San Bernardino	CA	2/4, 2/2	Parish had a school with 112-140 students.
1986	1989	Holy Family	Hesperia • Named in a 2002 lawsuit as having molested two girls, sisters who were ages 7 and 9, in 1988 and 1989. (San Bernardino Sun [San Bernardino] September 18, 2002) Their mother reported the abuse to Holy Family in 1988-1989, but nothing was done. (Press Enterprise [Riverside] September 20, 2002)			Sometimes served at this parish while at Our Lady of Guadalupe in San Bernardino.
1989	1990	St. Joseph's	Fontana	CA	3/3	St. Joseph's had a school with 228 students.
1990	1991					Ayala is not indexed in the 1991 Directory.
1991 Straling was replaced as bishop by Gerald Richard Barnes (1995- )	1998	Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine	Mecca	CA	1/1, 2/2	Parish had a religious education program with 500 students.
1998	2002					Ayala is not indexed in the 1999-2002 Directories.
2002	2003		Mecca • Ayala was put on administrative leave in June 2002 after a woman reported that he was involved in "sexual harassment and misconduct involving a minor" about 20 years previously. (Press Enterprise [Riverside, CA] June 25, 2002)	CA	1/1	Parish had a religious education program with 304 students. The 2003 Directory is the last in which Ayala appears. Ayala moved to his native Mexico after being put on leave. (Press Enterprise [Riverside CA] April 23, 2004)

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1983-2003).

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy & Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.