Rev. Stephen M. Garrity, s.j. - Assignment Record

Assignment Record – Rev. Stephen M. Garrity, s.j.

Summary of Case: Stephen M. Garrity was ordained a priest of the Jesuits' Maryland Province in 1970. He was assigned to high schools in Washington DC, Philadelphia PA, Baltimore MD and Scranton PA. He served also as the Province's vocations director, as director and rector of a Faulkner MD retreat house and as a college chaplain and parish pastor in Durham NC. Garrity was placed on leave in 2007 after admitting to having had "inappropriate sexual contact" with five young adults, ages 18-23, during his time in Baltimore and Philadelphia in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2012 he was accused of having molested a male high school student in in the 1970s in Philadelphia. Garrity was last known to have been living in a Jesuit community in PA. He died in 2014.

Ordained: 1970
Died: 2014

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1970 Washington DC archbishop was Patrick Aloysius O'Boyle (1947-1973).	1971	Gonzaga College High School	Washington	DC		Gonzaga College High had 540 students, all boys.
1971 Philadelphia archbishop was John Joseph Krol (1961-1988).	1979	St. Joseph's Prep.	Philadelphia • Garrity was accused in late 2012 of having engaged in "inappropriate sexual touching" of a St. Joe's student during the 1970s. The allegation was deemed credible; Garrity was not prosecuted because the statute of limitations had run out.	PA	sociology teacher; chaplain 1975-1978	St. Joseph's Prep. had 945-851 students, all boys.
1978	1982	Loyola Center at St. Joseph's University	Philadelphia	PA	vocations director for the province
1982 Baltimore archbishop was William Donald Borders (1974-1989).	1985	Loyola High School	Baltimore	MD	provincial staff	Loyola High had 875-854 students, all boys.
1985 Scranton bishop was James Clifford Timlin (1984-2003).	1991	Scranton Preparatory School	Scranton	PA	rector	Scranton Prep. had 783-738 students, boys and girls.
1991 Washington DC archbishop was James Aloysius Hickey (1980-2000), followed by Theodore Edgar McCarrick (2000-2006).	2001	Loyola on the Potomoc Retreat House	Faulkner	MD	associate director 1991-1997; superior and director 1997-2001
2001 Raleigh bishop was Francis Joseph Gossman (1975-2006).	2004	North Carolina Central University	Durham	NC	chaplain
2001 Gossman was succeeded by Michael Francis Burbidge (2006-).	2007	Holy Cross	Durham	NC	1/1	Holy Cross had a religious education program with 104-100 students. Garrity was removed from Holy Cross in April 2007 after admitting to having had "inappropriate sexual contact" with five young adults, ages 18-23, during his time in Baltimore and Philadelphia in the 1970s and 1980s. He was sent to a residential treatment facility on the East Coast.
2007 Baltimore archbishop was Edwin Frederick O'Brien (2007-2011).	2008	Jesuit Fathers and Brothers Provincial Curia	Baltimore	MD
2008 Allentown bishop was Edward Peter Cullen (1997-2009), followed by John Oliver Barres (2009-).	2011	Jesuit Center - Jesuit Community	Wernersville	PA		Garrity is not indexed beyond the 2011 Directory. Garrity died in 2014.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1971-2011)

• Priest Relieved from Duty, He Broke Vow of Celibacy Years Ago, By John Murawski, News & Observer [Durham NC],
April 29, 2007
• Jesuits Recall Durham Priest Amid Accusations of Sexual Misconduct, WRAL, April 28, 2007
• Pastor's Removal Stuns Flock, By Yonat Shimron, News & Observer, April 30, 2007
• Durham Priest Receives Counseling, By Yonat Shimron, News & Observer [Durham NC], June 8, 2007
• Jesuits Seek Information on Contact by St. Joe's Prep Teacher in 1970s, By Martha Woodall, Philadelphia Inquirer, January 9, 2013
• Maryland Province of S.J. Reports Allegation, Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, January 9, 2013
• Maryland Province Jesuits List, December 17, 2018

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 Garrity'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 June 25, 2021.