Rev. Alfred Willis-Assignment

Rev. Alfred Willis

Ordained: 1976

Sued 2003. Accused of abuse in 1970s. One suit settled 2004 for $170,000. At least two suits pending 4/06. Diocese placed him on leave in 1980 and laicized in 1985. Named in new suit filed 3/07. Diocese fought to exclude conduct in prior abuse instances from pending trial on 2004 suit but judge allowed admission of the evidence 6/07. Willis previously settled with this plaintiff. Mistrial declared 6/07. New trial begins 11/26/07. Another case settled 2/08 for $170,000.

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
Dec. 1975 Bishop of Burlington was John Aloysius Marshall (1971-1991)	June 1976	St. Anthony's	Burlington • Parents of boys from St. Anthony's complained in 1978 to to the bishop that Willis had molested their sons.	VT	Deacon	In May 1975 Willis became a deacon. He was ordained as a priest in June 1976.
1976	1979	St. Augustine's	Montpelier • Accused of having sexually abused a 16 year old boy in 1977 in a hotel room in Latham N.Y., and attempting abuse of the same boy later that year in Derby, VT. (Associated Press, carried in WVEC [Vermont] June 22, 2007)	VT	3/4, 2/3 Pastor was Rev. Joseph E. Campbell. Second priest 1976-1977 was John L. Gagnon, and fourth priest was Leo J. Racine. Third priest after Campbell and Willis 1977-1979 was James F. Foley.	Parish had a school with 165-145 students.
1979	1980	St. Ann's	Milton • Willis was transferred to St. Ann's, with the bishop not informing the pastor, nor anyone else, of the accusations against Willis. (Rutland Herald [Vermont] July 1, 2007) • Parents of several St. Ann's altar boys went to VT State's Attorney in 1979 with complaints that Willis had sexually abused their sons. (Times Argus [Vermont] June 17, 2007) The State's Attorney and other prosecutors then met with Bishop Marshall.	VT	2/2 Pastor was Rev. Philip R. LaMothe.
1980	1981	Missionhurst Retreat Center	Arlington	VA		On sick leave (Rutland Herald [Vermont] July 1, 2007)
1981	?	Via Coeli	Albuquerque	NM		On sick leave Via Coeli was a treatment clinic. (Rutland Herald [Vermont] July 1, 2007)
1981	1985	Unassigned	?			No longer appears in Directories after 1985. Defrocked in 1985 (Rutland Herald [Vermont] July 1, 2007)

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1977-1985).

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.