Rev. Anthony J. Petracca

Assignment Record– Rev. Anthony J. Petracca

Summary of Case: Anthony J. Petracca was ordained for the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown in 1985. His career is marked by a number of short-term assignments assisting in parishes and, notably, several assignment gaps: 1988-1989 (not indexed in the Official Catholic Directory), 2000-2010 (Absent on Leave; appears to have been living at a Salt Lake City, UT parish during his leave 2004-2005), 2010-2012 (not indexed) and 2014-2015 (not indexed). He also worked as a college campus minister and hospital chaplain.

Petracca was assigned to three Windber, PA parishes and three Johnstown hospitals in July 2017 when he was removed from active ministry due to an allegation of "misconduct" with a minor in the mid-1980s. A diocesan spokesperson said law enforcement was notified and that Petracca would be living in a place where he would not be in contact with children.

Ordained: 1985

Start	Stop	Assignments	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1985 Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown Bishop was James John Hogan (1966-1986), followed by Joseph Victor Adamec (1987-2011).	1987	Our Lady of Lourdes	Altoona • Petracca was removed from active ministry in July 2017 due to an accusation that he had engaged in "misconduct" with a minor in the mid-1980s.	PA	2/2	Our Lady of Lourdes had a school with 205 students.
1987	1988	Immaculate Conception	Altoona	PA	3/3	Immaculate Conception had a school with 265 students.
1988	1989					Petracca is not indexed in the 1989 Directory, nor is he listed in the diocesan pages as at his previous or next assignments.
1989	1991	St. Andrew's	Johnstown	PA	3/4, 2/3	St. Andrew's had a school with 236 students.
1991	1993	St. Patrick's	Johnstown	PA	2/2	St. Patrick's had a school with 206 students.
1993	1995	St. John the Evangelist	Bellfonte	PA	2/2	St. John the Evangelist had a school with 166 students, and a CCD program with 256-225 students.
1995	1999	Our Lady of Victory	State College	PA	2/4, 2/3	Our Lady of Victory had a grade school with 308-347 students, a preschool with 61-60 students, and a CCD program with 537-632 students.
1999	2000	Juniata College	Hollidaysburg	PA	Campus Minister
2000	2010	Absent on Leave				Petracca is indexed twice in the 2005 Directory, as "Absent on Leave" and as at Christ the King parish in Cedar City, UT (Salt Lake City diocese). He is listed in the Salt Lake diocesan pages as 2/2 and in residence. The parish had a CCD program with 140 students.
2010 Adamec was succeeded as Johnstown bishop by Mark Leonard Bartchak (2011-).	2012					Petracca is not indexed in the 2011 or 2012 Directories.
2012	2014	Dmitri Manor	Hollidaysburg	PA		This was a residence for aged priests of the diocese with 12 beds, 4-7 residents and 1 staff member. Petracca is not listed as chaplain.
2014	2015					Petracca is not indexed in the 2015 Directory, nor is he listed as at his previous assignment or next parish assignments. He is listed, however, as at three Johnstown hospital chaplaincies.
2015	July 2017	St. Anthony of Padua	Windber	PA	2/2	St. Anthony's was affiliated with St. Benedict School, which is shown to have had 2 students, and St. Thomas School (Bedford), which is shown to have had 1 student. St. Anthony's had a CCD program with 76 students.
2015	July 2017	SS. Cyril and Methodius	Windber	PA	2/2	St. Cyril's had a CCD program with 26 students.
2015	July 2017	St. Elizabeth Ann Seton	Windber	PA	2/2	St. Elizabeth's had a CCD program with 100 students.
2015	July 2017	Good Samaritan Medical Center, Memorial Medical Center, Memorial Medical Center Lee Campus	Johnstown	PA		Petracca was placed on leave July 5, 2017 due to an accusation of "misconduct" with a minor in the mid-1980s. Per the diocese, law enforcement was notified and Petracca would be living in a place in which he would not have contact with children.

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, 1986-2016).

• Priest suspended; law enforcement notified about mid-'80s incident, Bishop says, By David Hurst, Tribune-Democrat, July 5, 2017
• Diocese places priest on leavee for alleged misconduct involving minor in mid-1980s, By Ron Musselman, WJAC, July 5, 2017
• Suspended Priest under Investigation, Did Not Serve at Altoona Hospital, Church, By Shawn Annarelli, Centre Daily Times, July 6, 2017
• Altoona Priest Placed on Leave, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 6, 2017
• Diocese Priest, ABC 23, July 7, 2017
• Records show priest was previously on leave for 3 years, By Lauren Petrelli and Ron Musselman, WJAC 07.08.17

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 Petracca'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 Juy 17, 2017.