Assignment Record – Rev. John W. McDonald, s.j.

Summary of Case: John W. McDonald was an Oregon Province Jesuit priest, ordained in 1943. Most of his career was spent at Bellarmine Preparatory High School in Tacoma, WA. During the late 1940s through the 1950s he was assigned to St. Mary's Indian Mission in Omak, WA, which was part of the Spokane diocese. McDonald's name was included on that diocese's 2007 list of priests and religious who were "admitted, proven or credibly accused perpetrators of sexual abuse." He died in 1985.

Ordained: 1943
Died: Oct. 7, 1985


     

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

1943

San Francisco archbishop was John Joseph Mitty (1935-1961).

1944 Alma College Alma CA  

1944

Seattle bishop was Gerald Shaughnessy, s.m. (1933-1950).

1945 St. Joseph's Yakima WA   McDonald is indexed in the 1945 Directory as at St. Joseph's, but he is not listed as there in the Seattle diocesan pages. There are three Jesuits listed.

St. Joseph's had a school with 278 boys and 238 girls., and a high school for girls with 154 students.
1944 1945   White Swan WA (St. Mary's Indian Reservation)   This was a mission of St. Joseph's in Yakima.
1945 1947 Manresa Hall Port Townsend WA Jesuit tertianship  
1947 1948 Bellarmine Preparatory High School Takoma WA Bellarmine Prep. had 330 students, all male.

1948

Spokane bishop was Charles Daniel White (1926-1955), who was succeeded by Bernard Joseph Topel (1955-1978).

1959 St. Mary's Indian Mission

Omak

• McDonald's name was included on the Spokane' diocese's 2007 list of priests and religious who were "admitted, proven or credibly accused perpetrators of sexual abuse."

   3/3, 3/5, 2/3, 2/2 The 1959 Directory indexes but does not list McDonald in the Spokane diocesan pages as at St. Mary's Indian Mission.
1948 1956   Mallott WA   This was a station of St. Mary's Indian Mission in Omak.
1948 1957 St. Anthony's Chapel Desautel WA   This was a mission of St. Mary's Indian Mission in Omak
1948 1959 St. Joseph's East Omak WA   This was a mission of St. Mary's Indian Mission in Omak
1948 1958 St. Gertrude's Monse WA   This was a mission of St. Mary's Indian Mission in Omak

1959

Seattle archbishop was Thomas Arthur Connolly (1950-1975), followed by Raymond Gerhardt Hunthausen (1975-1991).

1985 Bellarmine Preparatory High School Takoma WA  

Bellarmine Prep. had 330-504 students, all male until 1974, when girls were admitted. Thereafter the school had 750-922 students.


McDonald died Oct. 7, 1985.

 

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1944-1986)

• Non-Monetary Undertakings of the Spokane Diocese, Diocese of Spokane , November 21, 2007
• A Safe Environment for Children & Youth, Catholic Diocese of Spokane, November 3, 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 McDonald'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 June 12, 2014.