Rev. James R. Laudwein, s.j.-Assignment Record

Assignment Record – Rev. James R. Laudwein, s.j.

Summary of Case: An Oregon Province Jesuit ordained in 1962, Laudwein lived and worked in Alaska until around 1994, when he was transferred to Portland, Oregon. He was accused in a 2005 lawsuit of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl in St. Mary's, Alaska, in 1980. His accuser said the abuse happened during confession. Laudwein denied the accusations. The Jesuits ackowledged that he fathered a child in Alaska in an unrelated case.

Ordained: 1962

Start	Stop	Parish/Assignment	Town/Accusations	State/Country	Position	Notes
1962	1963					Laudwein is not indexed in the 1963 Directory.
1963 Cleveland bishop was Francis Howard Hoban (1945-1966).	1964	St. Stanislaus Novitiate	Cleveland	OH	Jesuit Tertianship
1964 Fairbanks bishop was Francis Doyle Gleeson, s.j. (1948-1968).	1968	Loyola Hall, Monroe High School	Fairbanks	AK	2/4, 1/5, 1/2 teacher; counselor; principal 1966-1968
1967	1968		Bettles, Hughes, Huslia, Manley Hot Springs, Rampart	AK		These were stations of Loyola Hall, Monroe High School in Fairbanks.
1964	1968	University of Alaska Fairbanks	Fairbanks		Newman Student Federation chaplain
1968 Gleeson was succeeded by Robert Louis Whelan, s.j. (1968-1985).	1970	Little Flower of Jesus	Hooper Bay	AK	1/1
1969	1970		Cape Romanzof	AK		This was a station of Little Flower of Jesus in Hooper Bay.
1970	1981	St. Mary's Mission	St. Mary • Laudwein was accused in a 2005 lawsuit of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl at St. Mary's in 1980. The abuse was said to have happened during confession, and that Laudwein told the girl her "sins would be forgiven" if she touched his genitals. Laudwein denied the accusations.	AK	Jesuit Superior 1970-1975; School Administrator 1975-1981	St. Mary's had a school 1970-1974 with 97 day students. It had a Junior and Senior high school 1970-1981 with 36-72 day students and 158-75 boarders. Laudwein's superior said in 2005 that, in an unrelated case, Laudwein fathered a child in Alaska.
1981 Oakland bishop was John Stephen Cummins (1977-2003).	1982	Jesuit Theological Union	Berkeley	CA	continuing education
1982 Anchorage archbishop was Francis Thomas Hurley (1976-2001).	1995	Alaska Jesuit House/Residences	Anchorage	AK	Anchorage Jesuit Community Superior 1986-1994; Advisor to Jesuit Volunteer Community 1987- ; Brother Francis Shelter chaplain 1992- ; Covenant House chaplain 1992- .
1982	1995	University of Alaska-Anchorage	Anchorage		campus minister	Per Alaskana Catholica: A History of the Catholic Church in Alaska, Laudwein worked at "other centers of higher learning" in Anchorage. He also traveled throughout the archdiocese on weekends as one of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Visitation Team.
1995 Portland archbishop was Francis Eugene George, o.m.i. (1996-1997).	1997	Jesuit Provincial Office	Portland	OR		Laudwein is indexed under the Jesuit Provincial Office in the 1995-1997 Directories, but no assignments or locations are listed.
1997 George was replaced by John George Vlazny (1997-2013).	2001	Colombiere Community	Portland	OR	Per Alaskana Catholica: A History of the Catholic Church in Alaska, Laudwein was Superior of the Colombiere Community 1995-2001.	Laudwein worked at least through 2004 in downtown Portland parishes, with "street people" and with Native American Catholics.
2001	2004	Jesuit Novitiate of St. Francis Xavier	Portland	OR	Father Minister
2004	2012	Colombiere Community	Portland	OR		Laudwein was removed from active ministry in October 2005 after accusations emerged that he sexually abused a girl in 1980 in Alaska.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1963-2012)

• Our Lady of the Snows Parish, Hooper Bay, Alaska: 1928-2003, Editors Note: This Article Is Indebted to a Considerable Extent to Writings by Father Louis L. Renner, S.J., Alaskan Shepherd, June-July 2003
• Another Former Alaska Priest Accused of Sexual Abuse, By Megan Baldino, KTUU.com Channel 2, October 20, 2005
• New Priest Abuse Suit Fuels Critics' Charges, Dumping Ground: Pedophile Clergy Were Sent to Alaska, Some Say, By Rachel D'Oro,
Associated Press, carried in Anchorage Daily News, October 21, 2005
• Sex-Abuse Suits Embroil Jesuits in Northwest, Lawsuits the Oregon-Based Province Faces Scores of Cases, Many Involving Priests in Alaska, By Ashbel S. Green , The Oregonian [Oregon], November 14, 2005
• Jesuits Say Half of Alaskan Claims Not Theirs, By Ed Langlois, Catholic Sentinel [Alaska], November 17, 2005
• Provincial of Jesuits Deals with Charges By Lisa Demer, Anchorage Daily News [Alaska], April 17, 2006
• Jesuit Abuse Settlement Aims to Heal, $50 Million: Religious Order's Head Says Church Failed Victims in Alaska, By Lisa Demer, Anchorage Daily News, November 20, 2007
• Pilot Station - Saint Charles Spinola Catholic Church, Diocese Of Fairbanks, No Date
• Excerpt from Bankruptcy Reorganization Documents for Fairbanks Diocese, p.2, January 25, 2010
• Alaskana Catholica: A History of the Catholic Church in Alaska, by Louis L. Renner, s.j.

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 Laudwein'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 March 23, 2014.