Assignment Record – Rev. Joseph B. Di Peri

Summary of Case: Joseph B. Di Peri was a priest of the Newark NJ archdiocese, ordained in 1956. He worked in a number of archdiocesan parishes and schools, and was a hospital and youth detention center chaplain. He then spent more than a decade as an instructor at Oratory School in Summit NJ. In 1977 Di Peri was sent to Canoga Park CA for "health" reasons, where he worked at Marianist-run Chaminade Preparatory High School. He appears to have returned to NJ after a year, where he again taught at Oratory, and then at a high school in Englewood NJ. His whereabouts after 1986 are unclear. In September 2002 Los Angeles police received a report that Di Peri molested a male Chaminade student during 1977-1978. The Newark archdiocese removed his privileges in 2003. By 2005 Di Peri was on the archdiocese's "permanent monitoring system" and was living in a Trenton diocese retirement home. He died in 2007.

Ordained: 1956
Died: 2007

1956

Newark archbishop was Thomas Aloysius Boland (1952-1974).

4/4 , 3/4, 3/5

Di Peri taught in the elementary school and organized and directed a high school equivalency program for high school dropouts.

1967

Boland was succeeded by Peter Leo Gerety (1974-1986).

1977

Los Angeles archbishop was Timothy Manning (1970-1985).

Canoga Park

• In September 2002 Los Angeles police received a report that Di Peri molested a male Chaminade student and dormitory resident 1977-1978. The abuse was said to have been reported to school officials and the police at the time.

Chaminade Prep had 544 boys and 440 girls. It was run by the Society of Mary (Marianists).

The 1978 Directory lists Di Peri as at both Oratory in NJ and Chaminade in CA.

Di Peri was granted leave from the Newark archdiocese to work in CA for "health" reasons.

1978

Newark archdiocese

St. Cecilia's had 132-63 boys and 113-83 girls.

Di Peri is not indexed beyond the 1986 Directory.

1986

Gerety was replaced as Newark archbishop by Theodore Edward McCarrick (1986-2000), followed by John Joseph Myers (2001-).

Di Peri was removed from ministry in 2003 after the Newark archdiocese learned he had been credibly accused of molesting a boy in CA in the 1970s. By 2005 Di Peri was living in a retirement home in the Trenton diocese and was on the Newark archdiocese's "permanent monitoring system."

He died in 2007.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1956-1986)

• LA Archdiocesan Report, Feb. 17, 2004
• LA Times Database, April 20, 2006
• More Church Abuse Scandal Files Released by 5 Catholic Religious Orders, By Barbara Jones and Susan Abram, Contra Costa Times, July 31, 2013
• Religious Orders Released Files, Law Offices of Raymond Boucher, August 1, 2013
• Priest Personnel Files Released in California Court Case Reveal Alleged Abuser in N.J.., By Mark Mueller, The New Jersey Star-Ledger, August 1, 2013

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 and 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.

This assignment record collates Di Peri's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on January 26, 2015.