Rev. Joseph P. Fratic
Summary of Case: Fratic was placed on "unassigned" status in 2004, due to an allegation that he had sexually abused a 13 year old boy in 1979. Per his accuser, the abuse occurred after another priest with whom Fratic served, Rev. Paul Hurley, provided the boy with alcohol and pornography.
Ordained: 1963
| Start | Stop | Assignment | Town/Accusations | State | Position | Notes |
1963 Boston archbishop was Richard James Cushing (1944-1970) |
1964 | St. Joseph's (Lithuanian) | Lowell | MA | 2/2 | |
| 1964 | 1966 | St. Francis | Lawrence | MA | 2/3, 2/2 | Parish had a K-8 school with 152-132 boys and 142-134 girls. |
| 1964 | 1966 | St. Vincent de Paul | Methuen | MA | This was a mission of St. Francis in Lawrence. | |
1966 Humberto Sousa Medeiros replaced Cushing (1970-1983) |
1971 | Sacred Heart | Malden | MA | 4/5, 4/6, 3/4 | Parish had a school with 360-202 boys and 412-198 girls, and a high school with 166-36 girls. |
1971 Succeeding Medeiros was Bernard Francis Law (1984-2002) |
1984 | St. Paul's | Cambridge • Fratic was named in a 2004 lawsuit as having sexually abused a 13 year old boy in 1979. The accuser said that Fratic molested him after another priest at St. Paul's, Rev. Paul W. Hurley, lured him to his home and plied him with alcohol and pornography. (Boston Herald |
MA | 4/5, 3/5, 2/4, 2/8, 2/9 | Parish had a school with 80-50 students. |
| 1984 | 1985 | St. Bernard's | Concord | MA | 3/3 | |
| 1985 | 1988 | St. Luke's | Belmont | MA | 3/3 | |
| 1988 | 2001 | Church of the Most Precious Blood | Dover | MA | 1/1 | News reports state that Fratic spent 2000 on sabbatical at the Catholic University fo Louvain in Belgium. The Directory does not reflect this. |
2001 Sean Patrick O'Malley followed Law as archbishop (2003- ) |
2004 | St. Jerome's | Arlington | MA | 1/1 | |
| 2004 | 2009 | Unassigned |
Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1964-2009)
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 Fratic'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 February 18, 2010