Assignment Record– Rev. John H. Flynn

Summary of Case: Flynn was removed from public ministry in 2002 after a woman reported to the archdiocese that she had been molested by Flynn when she was 6 years-old. He was reinstated in 2005 upon recommendation of the Archdiocesan Review Board. Flynn died January 30, 2011.

Ordained: 1955
Died: January 30, 2011

   

Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

1955

Boston archbishop was Richard James Cushing (1944-1970).

1957 St. Matthew's Graniteville (Westford) MA

2/2

 

  
1955 1957 St. Catherine of Alexandria Westford MA assistant This assignment is per Flynn's obituary.(Thebostonpilot.com
February 11, 2011)
1957 1958 St. Thomas Aquinas Boston (Jamaica Plain) MA 5/5 Parish had a grade school with 355 boys and 411 girls, and a high school with 100 boys and 234 girls.
1958 1962 Immaculate Conception Cambridge MA 4/4 In residence. Parish had a school with 352-327 boys and 374-349 girls.
1958 1963 Matignon High School Cambridge MA chaplain  

1962

Cushing was succeeded by Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1970-1983).

1974 St. Joseph's Medford MA 2/5, 2/6 Parish had a school with 809-489 students.
1974 1981 St. Paul's

Wellesley

• Accused in a 2003 lawsuit of having molested a 6-year-old girl in 1978, while he was at St. Paul's. (Boston Globe
January 30, 2003)

MA

3/3, 3/4

 

 Parish had a school with 255-202 students.

1980

Replacing Medeiros was Bernard Francis Law (1984-2002).

1997 St. Maria Goretti Lynnfield MA 1/1, 2/2, 1/2  

1997

Sean Patrick O' Malley, OFM.Cap. followed Law
(2003- ).

2009 Retired/Senior Priests   MA  

The Directories list Flynn as retired 1997-2000, and as a senior priest and retired beginning in 2000.

Flynn was placed on administrative leave in 2002 due to the allegation that he had molested a girl in 1978. He was reinstated in October 2005 after the Archdiocesan Review Board determined that the allegation could not be substantiated. (The Associated Press, carried in Boston Globe [Boston MA]
October 25, 2005)

Flynn died January 30, 2011 (McDonald Funeral Homes website)


Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1956-2009)

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 Flynn'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 September 30, 2015.