Assignment Record – Rev. Thomas J. Hatrel, s.j.

Summary of Case: Ordained apriest of the New Oreans Province of the Society of Jesus in 1952, Hatrel taught high school in Louisiana and, for many years, in Tampa, Florida. In 1979 he was transferred to Alaska, where he taught math in a parish grade school in Fairbanks, then pastored a parish in Alakanuk. He died in 1988. In a 2007 lawsuit Hatrel was accused of engaging in abuse during his time in Alakanuk.


Ordained: 1952
Died: May 7, 1988


     

Start Stop Parish/Assignment Town/Accusations State/Country Position Notes

1952

Kansas City archbishop was Edward Joseph Hunkeler (1951-1969).

1953 St. Mary's College St. Mary's KS Jesuit House of Theological Studies

1953

Natchez bishop was Richard Oliver Gerow (1924-1967).

1954 Xavier Hall Pass Christian MS Jesuit Tertianship  

1954

New Orleans archbishop was Joseph Francis Rummel (1935-1964).

1957 Jesuit High School New Orleans LA   Jesuit High had 925-960 students, all male.

1957

St. Augustine bishop was Joseph Patrick Hurley (1940-1967).

The St. Petersburg diocese was established June 17, 1968. Bishops were Charles Borromeo McLaughlin (1968-1978), followed by William Thomas Larkin (1979-1988).

1979 Jesuit High School Tampa FL   Jesuit High had 285-624 students, all male.

1979

Fairbanks bishop was Robert Louis Whelan, s.j. (1968-1985).

1980 Monroe High School Fairbanks AK   Monroe High had 105 students.
1980 1983 Immaculate Conception Fairbanks AK math teacher and chaplain of parish school

Immaculate Conception had a grade school.

In letters of recommendation for a teaching position at Immaculate Conception's grade school, Hatrel was described as "simply great with children."

Hatrel is listed in the New Orleans diocesan pages of the 1981-1983 Directories as at Immaculate Conception parish, but he is not listed as there in the Fairbanks pages.

1983

Whelan was succeeded by Michael Joseph Kaniecki, s.j. (1985-2000).

1988 St. Ignatius

Alakanuk

• Hatrel was accused in 2007 litigation of child sexual abuse during 1985-1987, while serving at St. Ignatius.

AK 1/1  
1983 1988 St. Mary's (St. Peter's) Sheldon Point (Nunam Iqua) AK  

This was a mission of St. Ignatius in Alakanuk.

Although the Directories refer to this parish as St. Mary's, other sources state the name was changed from St. Mary's to St. Peter's in 1983.

Hatrel died May 7, 1988.

 

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1953-1988)

• GeneologyBank.com
• Alaskana Catholica, A History of the Catholic Church in Alaska, p.246, by Louis L. Renner, s.j.
• Settlement Talks Continue in Clergy Sex Abuse Cases, By Mary Beth Smetzer, Fairbanks News-Miner, November 3, 2007
Jesuit Abuse Settlement Aims to Heal
• $50 Million: Religious Order's Head Says Church Failed Victims in Alaska, By Lisa Demer, Anchorage Daily News, November 20, 2007



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 Hatrel'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 February 23, 2014.