Rev. Robert C. Fichtner-Assignment

Assignment Record– Rev. Msgr. Robert C. Fichtner

Summary of Case: Fichtner was suspended from public ministry in 2003 due to an accusation that he had sexually abused a 9-year-old boy in the late 1980s. His suspension was lifted by the archdiocese in 2005 when the archdiocesan review board deemed the accusation "unsubstantiated". Fichtner had retired in 2002. He died June 7, 2013.

Born: February 8, 1929
Ordained: February 2, 1955
Retired: 2002
Died: June 7, 2013

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1955 Boston archbishop was Richard James Cushing (1944-1970).	1957	St. Peter's	Plymouth	MA	3/3
1957	1958	Catholic University	Washington	DC
1958	1959	St. Michael's Mission-Dracut	Lowell	MA	5/6	Parish had a school with 590 boys and 571 girls.
1959	1967	SS. Peter and Paul	(South) Boston	MA	3/8, 2/7, 2/5
1967 Cushing was succeeded by Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1970-1983).	1981	Our Lady Help of Christians	Newton	MA	3/5,3/4,2/4	Our Lady's had a grade school with 553-378 students and a high school with 198-291 students.
1967	1981	St. Sebastian's School	Needham	MA	part-time faculty member
		Blessed John XXIII Seminary	Weston	MA	spiritual director
1981 Bernard Francis Law replaced Medeiros (1984-2002).	1990	St. Joseph's	Holbrook • In 2003 a 27 year old man accused Fichtner of having sexually abused him during confession when the man was a 9-year-old fourth grader at St. Joseph's parish school. The man said that he was violently forced to perform oral sex on Fichtner.	MA	1/3,1/2	St. Joseph's had a school with 236-365 students.
1990	2002	St. Patrick's	Watertown	MA	1/2,1/3	Referred to as "Very Rev."
2002 Sean Patrick O'Malley, o.f.m. Cap. succeeded Law (2003-).	2013	Retired	Waltham			Retired in 2002. Placed on administrative leave in 2003 due to allegation from his post at St. Joseph's. Allowed in 2005 by the archdiocese to return to ministry after church review board determined the allegation was "unsubstantiated". Fichtner died June 7, 2013.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1956-2007).

• Some Priest Abuse Claims Remain Open, By Sue Reinert, Patriot Ledger (Quincy, MA), March 8, 2005
• New England in Brief, Restrictions Are Lifted on Accused Priest, Boston.com [Boston MA], June 8, 2005
• Priest Cleared of Child Sex Abuse, Holbrook Sun [Holbrook MA], June 10, 2005
• Boston Archdiocese Posts Sex-Abuse Database Online, By Joan Frawley Desmond, National Catholic Register, August 25, 2011
• Obituary: Msgr. Robert C. Fichter, 84, The Pilot, June 14, 2013

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 Fichtner'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 September 29, 2015.