| Rev. S. Joseph Collova Summary of Case: Collova was accused in a 1993 lawsuit of having sexually abused a boy beginning in 1980, when the boy was 14, and continuing until 1987. He was placed on leave and fully restricted from ministry. Collova left the Roman Catholic Church in 2004 to practice as a priest in alternative Catholic groups without ties to Rome. As a result, he was excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church. Collova was named on a list released by the Milwaukee archdiocese in 2004 as a priest with substantiated allegations against him of sexual abuse of a minor. He was made a bishop of the American Apostolic Church in June 29, 2009 and was pastor of a church in Milwaukee. Ordained: 1976 |
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| Start | Stop | Parish | Town/Accusations | State | Position | Notes |
1976 Milwaukee archbishop was William Edward Cousins (1958-1977), followed by Rembert George Weakland, O.S.B. (1977-2002)
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1977 | St. James | Mequon | WI | 2/2 | Parish had a school with 225 students. |
| 1977 | 1981 | Holy Apostles | New Berlin • In a 1993 lawsuit, Collova was accused of sexually assaulting a boy beginning when the boy was 14 years old in 1980 and continuing until 1987. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel [Wisconsin] |
WI | 2/3 | Parish had a school with 518-487 students. |
| 1981 | 1985 | St. James | Franklin | WI | 2/2 | |
| 1985 | 1993 | St. Rita's | Milwaukee | WI | 1/2, 1/1 | Parish had a school with 158-230 students. |
| 1993 | 2002 | On Leave | Collova is not indexed beyond the 2002 Directory. | |||
2002
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2011 | Milwaukee | WI | Collova left the Roman Catholic Church to join another denomination, for which he was excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church in 2004. Collova was named on a list put out by the Milwaukee archdiocese in 2004 among 43 priests restricted from ministry due to substantiated allegations of sexual abuse against minors. (Miwaukee archdiocese July 9, 2004) Collova was made a bishop of the American Apostolic Church in 2009. (Today's TMJ4 |
| Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1977-2002) 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 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 Collova'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 on Feb. 25, 2011 |