Assignment Record– Msgr. Wallace A. Harris Through the years, Harris rose to prominence in the archdiocese. He held the position of Spiritual Advisor for the Society of St. Vincent De Paul, served on the Archdiocesan Priests Council, and was an Archdiocesan Consultor. In 2009 he was elevated to Monsignor. He was selected in 2002 to testify before the USCCB's National Review Board; Harris told the board that clergy sex abuse was a problem, but that too many innocent priests were being accused. In March 2008 Msgr. Harris gave the invocation for the new governor's inauguration and the following month he organized Pope Benedict XVI's mass at Yankee Stadium. In June 2008 a man alleged that, when he was a 13- or 14-year-old Cathedral Prep student, Harris sexually abused him. The D.A. investigated and discovered another former Cathedral Prep student with allegations against Harris. Harris was suspended in late July. Soon thereafter a third man came forward, saying Harris sexually abused him when he was 13 to 16 years-old. This accuser said he was Harris' godson, and had been his student at St. Joseph's parish and Cathedral Prep. By September 2010 seven additional men had come forward. Harris denied the allegations. He was not criminally charged due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. In 2012 Harris was sentenced by the Vatican to "a life of prayer and penance." Per the archdiocese, he was living under "very, very close supervision" in a Catholic facility. |
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| Start | Stop | Assignments | Town/Accusations | State | Position | Notes |
1972 Archdiocese of New York Archbishop was Terence James Cooke (1968-1983). |
1983 | St. Joseph of the Holy Family | New York
|
NY | 2/2, 2/3, 2/4 | St. Joseph's had a school with 263-214 students. |
1977 Cooke was succeeded by John Joseph O'Connor (1984-2000). |
1989 | Cathedral Preparatory Seminary | New York • In June 2008 a man alleged that Harris had sexually abused him when he was a 13- or 14-year-old student at Cathedral Prep. In the course of the ensuing investigation, the Manhattan Attorney General's Office discovered another alleged victim, also said to have been abused as a young student at Cathedral Prep. • A third man publicly alleged in August 2008 that Harris had sexually molested him when he was ages 13-16, beginning in 1979. He said he came forward mainly to support the first two men who reported abuse as boys by Harris. This accuser said Harris baptized and confirmed him, and that Harris was his godfather. Also, he said Harris taught him when he was a student at both St. Joseph Elementary School and Cathedral Prep, and that the two became so close, people referred to him as "little Father Harris." The man said further that he entered seminary due to Msgr. Harris' influence, but that he eventually left to become New York City police officer. • By September 2010 seven other men had come forward with allegations against Harris. |
NY | Vice Rector 1983-1989 | Cathedral Prep had 103-149 students. |
1989 Edward Michael Egan replaced O'Connor as New York archbishop (2000-2009). |
2008 | Society of St. Vincent De Paul, District Council of Manhattan | New York | NY | Spiritual Advisor | |
| 1990 | 2008 | St. Charles Borromeo | New York (Harlem) | NY | 1/3, 1/2, 1/1 Named 'Monsignor' in 1990. |
St. Charles' had a school with 503-520 students, and a CCD program with 517-61 students. |
| 1995 | 2008 | Archdiocesan Priests Council | New York | NY | Chairman | |
| 2002 | 2004 | St. Peter's | New York | NY | 1/5 Administrator | In 2002 Harris was selected to testify before the USCCB's National Review Board on clergy sex abuse. Harris acknowledged the problem of abusive priests, but reportedly emphasized a problem of too many innocent priests getting "swept up in these accusations." |
| 2003 | 2008 | Church of the Resurrection | New York (Harlem) | NY | 1/1 Administrator | Resurrection had a school with 215-132 students, and a CCD program with 45-68 students. It closed in 2007 or 2008. In March 2008 Harris gave the invocation at New York Governor David Paterson's inauguration. In April 2008 Harris organized Pope Benedict XVI's mass at Yankee Stadium. |
2006 Egan was succeeded by Timothy Michael Dolan (2009-). |
2010 | Archdiocesan Consultors | New York | NY | Harris was suspended by the archdiocese in July 2008 due to allegations that he had sexually abused two minors twenty years previously. By late 2010 at least 10 men had come forward to allege abuse as children by Harris. Harris denied the allegations. He was not criminally charged due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. In 2010 Archbishop Dolan announced that Harris would "never again publicly function or present himself as a priest." Harris is not indexed beyond the 2010 Directory. Harris was sentenced by the Vatican in February 2012 to "a life of prayer and penance," and was said by the archdiocese to be living in a Catholic facility under "very, very close supervision." |
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. • Statement by Archdiocese of New York, August 3, 2008 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. |
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