Rev. Fred G. Fingerle

Rev. Fred G. Fingerle – Assignment History

Summary of Case: Fred G. Fingerle was a priest of the Diocese of Buffalo, ordained in 1963. After a year at St. John of the Cross in Whitesville for the diocese's Missionary Apostolate, Fingerle assisted in Tonawanda, Buffalo, Angola, and Hamburg parishes. In 1983 he was again assigned to St. John's in Whitesville, as well as to Blessed Sacrament in Andover, remaining at both as sole priest until his death in 2002.

Fingerle's name was included on the diocese's list released March 20, 2018 of clergy removed, retired, or having left ministry after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. The list included deceased priests only if they had more than one allegation against them.

Ordained: 1963
Died: January 25, 2002

Start	Stop	Assignments	Town/Allegations	State	Position and Colleagues	Notes
1963 Diocese of Buffalo Bishop was James Aloysius McNulty (1963-1972).	1964	St. John of the Cross	Whitesville	NY	1/1 Fingerle was assigned to St. John's via the Buffalo Missionary Apostolate, which provided small, rural parishes with newly ordained priests.
1964	1967	St. Timothy's	Tonawanda	NY	2/2 Pastor was Rev. Joseph L. Jenson.
		St. Teresa's	Buffalo	NY		This assignment is per news reports; it is not reflected in the Directories.
1967	1969	Most Precious Blood	Angola	NY	2/2 Pastor was Rev. Dennis P. Shea.	Most Precious Blood had a school with 473-454 students.
1969	1971	All Saints	Buffalo	NY	3/3 Pastor 1969-1970 was Rev. Joseph P. O'Connor; Pastor 1970-1971 was Rev. James P. Hayes. William A. Setlock is the second priest listed both years.	All Saints had a school with 766 students. Hayes' name was included on the diocese's March 2018 list of "removed, retired or having left ministry after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor". He died in 1988.
1971 McNulty was succeeded as Buffalo bishop by Edward Dennis Head (1973-1995).	1977	Most Precious Blood	Angola	NY	2/2 Pastor was Rev. Dennis P. Shea.	Most Precious Blood had a school with 311-253 students.
1977	1978	St. John the Evangelist	Buffalo	NY	2/3 Pastor was Rev. Harry V. Melley; third priest listed is Seweryn J. Koszyk, s.a.c.	St. John the Evangelist had a school with 301 students.
1978	1983	St. Mary of the Lake	Mt. Vernon-on-the-Lake (Hamburg)	NY	2/2 Pastor was Rev. Alton J. LaRusch.	St. Mary of the Lake had a school with 282 students.
1983	2002	St. John of the Cross	Whitesville	NY	1/1	Fingerle resided on Church St. in Andover.
1983 Henry Joseph Mansell replaced Head as Buffalo bishop (1995-2003).	2002	Blessed Sacrament	Andover	NY	1/1	Fingerle died January 25, 2002. Fingerle's name was included on the diocese's list released March 20, 2018 of clergy removed, retired, or having left ministry after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. The list included deceased priests only if they had more than one allegation against them.

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.

Source: Official Catholic Directory (Kenedy & Sons, 1963-2003).

• Names of Buffalo Diocese priests accused of abusing minors, by Aaron Besecker, Buffalo News, March 20, 2018, updated March 28, 2018
• The accused priests of Buffalo– photos from the 1983 Diocese Directory, by Steve Cichon, Buffalo Stories, March 20, 2018
• Diocese releases list of priests, Diocese of Buffalo, March 20, 2018
• Diocese of Buffalo Updated List, March 22, 2018
• Where the 42 Buffalo area priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors worked, by Mike McAndrew, Buffalo News, March 21, 2018, updated March 23, 2018

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 Fingerle's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with the allegations against him, as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegations 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 April 17, 2018.