Rev. Joseph T. Pritchard-Assignment

Rev. Joseph T. Pritchard

Pritchard was accused of abuse by at least 19 children, including his nephew. Dates of the abuse range from 1956 to the late 1970s. During 2002-2003, 23 suits were filed. There were several settlements, including 10 claims in a June 2005 $21.2M settlement with SF Archdiocese and another 12 claims in a July 2005 $16M settlement. Pritchard died October 17, 1988.

Ordained: 1948
Died: October 17, 1988

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1948 San Francisco archbishop was John Joseph Mitty (1935-1961)	1953	St. Brendan's	San Francisco	CA	2/3 Pritchard worked under Rev. John M. Ryan. During 1948-1951 Rev. Eugene Shea, Assistant Director of Catholic Social Services, was in residence, and 1951-1953 Rev. Eugene Gallagher, also Assistant Director of Catholic Social Services, was in residence.	St. Brendan's had a school with 163-215 boys and 138-204 girls.
1949	1953	Diocesan Commission on Church Music
1953	1956	Bishop O'Dowd High School	Oakland	CA		Bishop O'Dowd had 278-424 boys and 286-447 girls.
1956 Joseph Thomas McGucken replaced Mitty as archbishop (1962-1977)	1970	Serra High School for Boys	San Mateo • In 2003, Pritchard's nephew reported that he had been molested in the 1950s by his uncle, and that his mother had reported the abuse to church officials in 1959. ( Mercury News [California] December 29, 2003)	CA		Serra High School had 695-951 students, all male.
1970	1971	St. Cyprian's	Sunnyvale	CA	2/2 Pastor was Rev. John T. Gallagher.	St. Cyprian's had a school with 60 boys and 73 girls.
1971 John Raphael Quinn followed McGucken as archbishop (1977-1995)	1979	St. Martin's	San Jose • Twenty men and one women reported in 2002-2003 that Pritchard had molested them as children in the 1970s, while he was pastor of St. Martin's. Pritchard is said to have spent time in a treatment facility in the Midwest after leaving St. Martin's. (Mercury News [California] December 29, 2003)	CA	1/3, 1/4, 1/5 Working under Pritchard were Revs. George C. Heeg and Raymond G. Kenny 1971-1972, Rev. Felix S. Namocatcat 1972-1975, Rev. Francis McKeown 1972-1974, Rev. Cornelius M. Peelo, C.S.Sp. 1974-1978, Rev. Mervyn J. Sullivan 1975-1979, Rev. Lino Pelerzi, S.X. 1974-1979, Rev. Enzie J. Laguttuta, S.X. 1977-1978, and Rev. Louis J. Robello 1978-1979.	St. Martin's had a school with 329-250 students.
1979 The San Jose diocese was established in 1981, splitting off from the San Francisco archdiocese. San Jose bishop was Roland Pierre DuMaine (1981-1999).	1988	St. Nicholas	Los Altos	CA	1/2, 1/3 In residence at St. Nicholas was Pastor Emeritus Rev. Richard K. Meade. During 1981-1983 Rev. John J. Coleman was in residence, and during 1983-1988 Rev. Phillip E. McCrillis was in residence.	St. Nicholas had a school with 263-226 students. McCrillis accused in 2004 of having sexually abused two Jr. High School aged girls in the 1960s. (Mercury News May 13, 2007)
1979	1988	Residential Park for the Aged	Seven Oaks	CA		This was a station of St. Nicholas.
1986	1988	Special Assistance Ministry Board Chairman				Pritchard died Oct. 17, 1988.

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1949-1989).

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 & 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.