William J. Walsh, S.J.-Assignment

Assignment Record -– Rev. William J. Walsh, S.J.

Summary of Case: A Jesuit of the Maryland Province ordained in 1954, Walsh's assignments took him from the archdiocese of Baltimore to Pittsburgh PA, where he was the founding headmaster of a diocesan pre-seminary high school in the early 1960s. His assignments included several stints at Georgetown University in Washington DC, and at the Jesuit Novitiate in Allentown, PA. After five years as assistant for formation and studies at the Province's Curia in the 1980s, Walsh spent a year with the Jesuit community in Berkeley, CA, then several years as rector in two different Philadelphia Jesuit residences. In 1991 Walsh began work as a foreign missionary in China. In 1996 five of his nieces reported to his order that Walsh had sexually abused them when they were little girls some 40 years previously; they were prompted to act when Walsh wrote to a relative that he had befriended a 3-year-old girl in China. Walsh was sent to treatment. He lived in a Jesuit community at Georgetown in DC until 1998, when he was transferred to the Jesuit's Ferdinand Wheeler House in Baltimore, MD. In 2010 he was moved to the Jesuits' Colombiere Community in Baltimore.

Ordained: 1954

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusation	State/Country	Position	Notes
1954 Baltimore archbishop was Francis Patrick Keough (1947-1961).	1955	Woodstock College	Woodstock • In 1996 five nieces of Walsh reported to the Jesuits that the priest sexually abused them as children, at least 40 years previously. Walsh was in China when his nieces came forward; they were prompted to act when Walsh wrote to a relative that he had befriended a 3-year-old girl in China.	MD
1955 Albany bishop was William Aloysius Scully (1954-1969).	1956	Jesuit Tertianship	Auriesville	NY		.
1956 Baltimore archdiocese	1961	St. Ignatius	Baltimore	MD		Walsh is indexed in the Official Catholic Directories as at 720 N. Calvert St., which was the residence for priestsof St. Ignatius, but he is not listed there in the diocesan pages.
1961 Pittsburgh bishop was John Joseph Wright (1959-1969).	1965	Bishop's Latin School	Pittsburgh	PA	1/4, 1/6, 1/10 Headmaster	School had 52-148 students, all male.
1965	1966					Indexed but not listed in the Directory's diocesan pages at the Faculty House for Bishop's Latin School in Pittsburgh PA.
1966 Washington D.C. archbishop was Patrick Aloysius O'Boyle (1947-1973).	1967	Georgetown University	Washington	DC
1967 Allentown bishop was Joseph Mark McShea (1961-1983).	1973	Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues	Wernersville	PA	In residence.
1973 O'Boyle was succeeded by William Wakefield Baum (1973-1980).	1975	Georgetown University	Washington	DC
1975 Allentown diocese	1979	Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues	Wernersville	PA	In residence 1975-1976; Co-director of Novices 1976-1979.
1979	1980					Not indexed the Directory.
1980 Baltimore archbishop was William Donald Borders (1974-1989).	1985	Jesuit Fathers and Brothers Maryland Provincial Curia	Baltimore	MD	Assistant for Formation and Studies
1985 Oakland bishop was John Stephen Cummins (1977-2003).	1986	Jesuit Community	Berkeley	CA
1985 Philadelphia archbishop was John Joseph Krol (1961-1988), followed by Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua (1987-2003).	1991	St. Alphonsus House at St. Joseph University	Philadelphia	PA	Rector	St. Alphonsus House was a Jesuit residence.
1989	1991	Loyola Center at St. Joseph University	Philadelphia	PA	Rector	Loyola Center was a Jesuit residence.
1991	1996	Foreign Mission		China		Walsh was recalled from China and sent to treatment in 1996 after his five nieces reported that he sexually abused them as little girls.
1996 Washington D.C. archbishop was James Aloysius Hickey (1980-2000).	1998	Woodstock Jesuit Community; Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University	Washington	DC	5/6
1998 Baltimore archbishop was William Henry Keeler (1989-2007), followed by Edwin Frederick O'Brien (2007-2011).	2010	Ferdinand Wheeler House	Baltimore	MD
2010 William Edward Lori replaced O'Brien as Baltimore archbishop (2012-).	2012	Colombiere Jesuit Community	Baltimore	MD		Walsh is not indexed in the 2013 Directory.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1955-2012).

• D.C. Jesuit Accused of Molestation, Walsh Worked on Georgetown's Campus, By Garrett Therolf, Georgetown Voice, April 23, 1998
• After Child Abuse Accusations, Catholic Priests Often Simply Vanish, By William Wan and Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post, December 2, 2010
• Bishop's Latin School Alumni Association, Bishop's Latin School History
• Bishop's Latin School, Alumni Association, Faculty, Updated October 31, 2011

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.

This assignment record collates Walsh'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 July 16, 2014.