Rev. Gerard J. Howell-Assignment

Rev. Gerard J. Howell

Ordained: 1964

Gerard Howell and his dead brother Fr. Rodney Howell have been accused of molesting dozens of students at school for deaf in New Orleans in 1970s.

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1964 New Orleans archbishop was Joseph Francis Rummel (1935-1964), replaced by John Patrick Cody (1964-1965) , then Philip Matthew Hannan (1965-1988)	1966	St. Lawrence the Martyr	Kenner/Metarie	LA	3/3 ,2/2	Parish had a school with 628-619 boys and 616-587 girls.
1966	1967	St. Henry's	New Orleans	LA	3/3	Parish had a school with 162 boys and 177 girls.
1967	1971?	SS Peter and Paul	New Orleans	LA	2/2	Parish had a school with 186-137 boys and 215-183 girls. Howell is indexed in the 1971 Directory as at this parish, but his name is not listed there in the New Orleans diocesan pages.
1971	1974	St. Ann National Shrine	New Orleans	LA	2/2 In residence
1974	1977	Holy Trinity (Chapel of Ease)	New Orleans	LA	1/1 Administrator
1977	1978	sick leave
1978 Baton Rouge bishop was Joseph Vincent Sullivan (1974-1982)	1981	St. Francis de Sales Catholic Deaf Center	Baton Rouge • Accused in 1992 of having abused dozens of deaf children at this parish and nearby school in the 1970s (The Times-Picayune [New Orleans, LA] February 4, 2003), along with his brother, Rev. Rodney Howell.	LA
1981 Worcester bishop was Bernard Joseph Flanagan (1959-1983)	1982	House of Affirmation	Whittinsville	MA		House of Affirmation was a treatment facility for priests with psychological and psychosexual problems.
1982	1983	Our Lady of Prompt Succor	Westwego	LA	2/2	Parish had a school with705 students.
1983	1986	Prince of Peace	Chalmette	LA		2/2
1986 Hannan was replaced as archbishop by Francis Bible Schulte (1988-2002)	1992	Absent on Leave				Howell is no longer indexed in the Directories after 1992. Reported to have been living in a monastery in South Dakota in 2003.

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1965-1992).

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.