Rev. Patrick J. O'Reilly, s.j.

Assignment Record – Rev. Patrick J. O'Reilly, s.j.

Summary of Case: Patrick J. O'Reilly was a priest of the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, ordained in 1906. A native of Ireland, he had emigrated to the United States in 1890, at the age of 18. Most of O'Reilly's ministry was spent traveling around the U.S. and abroad as a missionary preacher. He also served as a parish pastor and as a college and hospital chaplain. After his tertianship year in Poughkeepsie NY, O'Reilly was based at various times in what are now the dioceses of Spokane and Portland OR, Fairbanks AK, Boston MA, Helena MT and Seattle WA. He died May 26, 1958 in Sheridan OR. O'Reilly's name was included in 2011 on the Oregon Province's list of its members who have been identified as perpetrators of sexual abuse.

Ordained: May 31, 1906
Died: May 26, 1958

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1906 Nesqually bishop was Edward John O'Dea (1896-1932).	1908	Gonzaga College	Spokane	WA	professor; chaplain	This was a college for boys and a house of studies for Jesuit scholastics. There were 206-215 boarders and 193-225 day scholars.
1908 1910	1909	Mission Band				Per Louis J. Renner, s.j.'s, Alaskana Catholica, O'Reilly "traveled far and wide to preach short missions and retreats" throughout most of his career. His travels included "Molokai in the Hawaiian Islands to preach to the lepers there, to England, and to many parts of the United States."
1909 New York archbishop was John Murphy Farley (1902-1918).	1910	St. Andrew-on-Hudson	Poughkeepsie	NY	Jesuit tertianship	Per Renner.
1908 Oregon City archbishop was Alexander Christie (1899-1925).	1924	St. Ignatius	Portland	OR	5/6, 7/7, 6/7,6/6,4/4, 3/3 missionary	St. Ignatius had a school with 95-211.
1924 Spokane bishop was Augustine Francis Schinner (1914-1925), followed by Charles Daniel White (1926-1955).	1926	Gonzaga University	Spokane	WA	chaplain
1926 Vicariate Apostolic of Alaska bishop was Joseph Raphael John Crimont, s.j. (1904-1945).	1928	Immaculate Conception	Fairbanks	AK	1/2
1926	1928	St. John's	Fairbanks	AK		This was a chapel of Immaculate Conception.
1926	1928		Chatankia; Fox; Ester; Dome; Fairbanks Creek	AK		These were stations of Immaculate Conception in Fairbanks.
1928	1929					The 1929 Directory indexes O'Reilly as in Fairbanks, but does not list him as there in the Alaska pages.
1929 Portland in Oregon archbishop was Edward Daniel Howard (1926-1966).	1930	St. Ignatius	Portland	OR		The 1930 Directory indexes but does not list O'Reilly in the Portland pages as at St. Ignatius.
1930	1931	St. Ignatius	Portland	OR	3/3	St. Ignatius had a school with 330 students.
1931 Boston archbishop was William Henry O'Connell (1907-1944).	1932	St. Mary's	Boston	MA	14/16 Mission Band
1932 Portland in Oregon archdiocese	1934	St. Ignatius	Portland	OR
1934 Helena bishop was Ralph Leo Hayes (1933-1935), followed by Joseph Michael Gilmore (1935-1962).	1935	St. Francis Xavier's	Missoula	MT	2/4	St. Francis Xavier's had a school with grade 120 boys and 125 girls, and a high school (Sacred Heart Academy) with 108 girls.
1935 Seattle bishop was Gerald Shaughnessy, s.j. (1933-1950).	1936	St. Leo the Great	Tacoma	WA	3/3	St. Leo's had a school with 161 boys and 143 girls.
1936	1937	Manresa Hall	Port Townsend	WA	missionary
1937 Spokane diocese	1939	St. Patrick's	Spokane	WA	1/2	St. Patrick's had a school with 202 students.
1939 Seattle diocese	1940		Seattle	WA		Address is 916 E. Marion St.
1940 Vicariate Apostolic of Alaska	1941	St. Rose and St. John's	Wrangell	AK	1/1	Noted in the Directory to visit Government Institute, Shoemaker Bay.
Dec. 1941	Jan. 1947	St. Gregory of Nazianz	Sitka	AK	1/1
Dec. 1941	Jan. 1947	Armed Forces	Sitka		chaplain
Dec. 1941	1945		Chichagof, Hoonah, Tenakee	AK		These were stations of St. Gregory's in Sitka.
1945 Seattle diocese	1950	Mount St. Mary's Provincial House	Bellingham	WA	chaplain 1945-1949	This was the provincial house of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Newark, Our Lady's Province. The 1950 Directory indexes O'Reilly as at this assignment, but does not list him as there in the Seattle pages.
1950	1954	Manresa Hall	Port Townsend	WA	missionary; chaplain (not in residence) 1953-1954
1954	1958	St. Helen Hospital	Chehalis	WA	chaplain	The 1956-1958 Directories index but do not list O'Reilly in the Seattle pages as at St. Helen's Hospital.
1956 Portland in Oregon archbishop was Francis Doyle Gleeson, s.j. (1948-1968).	1958	St. Francis Xavier Novitiate	Sheridan	OR		The Directories index O'Reilly as at St. Francis Xavier Novitiate but do not list him in the Portland pages as there. Although O'Reilly is indexed through the 1962 Directory, per Louis Renner, s.j. he died May 26, 1958 in Sheridan, OR.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1907-1962)

• Alaskana Catholica: A History of the Catholic Church in Alaska, by Louis L. Renner, s.j.
• Non-Monetary Commitments, The Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus website, accessed Dec. 7, 2012

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 O'Reilly'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 Dec. 4, 2014.