Assignment Record – Rev. Segundo Llorente, s.j.

Summary of Case: A native of Spain, Llorente was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1934. He spent the next 40 years in remote Alaskan villages, which were served by Jesuits' Oregon Province. (He wasn't an official member of the Oregon Province until he requested that status in 1981.) In 1960 Llorente was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives, serving two terms. He also became a well-known writer. Llorente was transferred in 1975 to the Yakima, Washington diocese, and then to the Boise City, Idaho, diocese in 1982. He remained in Boise until he fell ill in November 1988. He died at the Jesuit House Infirmary at Gonzaga University in January 1989. Llorente was accused in a 2004 lawsuit of the sexual abuse in the 1950s of a 6- or 7-year-old native Alaskan boy; his accuser said he abused other young boys during that time as well. In 2005 another man accused Llorente of sexually abusing him in Alaska, when the man was a 4- to 11-year-old boy during 1956-1963. Both accusers were from Sheldon Point, AK.

Ordained: 1934
Died: Jan. 26, 1989


   

Start Stop Parish/Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes
1934 1935 Alma College Alma CA  

1935

Vicariate Apostolic of Alaska bishop was Joseph Raphael John Crimont, s.j. (1904-1945).

1938 St. Mary's Mission Akulurak AK 2/2 St. Mary's had a boarding school for boys wihth 30-34 students and St. Mary's Industrial Training School and Orphanage for Eskimo girls, with 70 students.
1935 1938   Alaranak, Panreuvik, Kwiguk and others AK   These were missions of St. Mary's.
1935 1938   Over fifty villages or hamlets of Yukon Delta AK   These were stations of St. Mary's.
1938 1941 St. Francis Xavier Church Kotzebue AK 1/1  
1938 1941   Candle, Deering, Kewalik AK    

1941

Crimont was succeeded by Walter James Fitzgerald, s.j. (1945-1947), followed by Francis Doyle Gleeson, s.j. (1948-1968).

1948 St. Mary's Mission Akulurak AK 1/2, 1/3 ; Superior St. Mary's had a boarding school for boys wihth 30-36 students and St. Mary's Industrial Training School and Orphanage for Eskimo girls, with 60-65 students.
1941 1948   Alaranka, Panreuvik, Kwiguk and others AK   These were missions of St. Mary's.
1941 1948   Over fifty villages or hamlets of Yukon Delta AK   These were stations of St. Mary's.
1948 1950 Church of the Immaculate Conception Bethel Mission AK 1/1  
1948 1950 Church of the Little Flower Aklak AK   This was a mission of Immaculate Conception in Bethel Mission.
1948 1950 St. Joseph's Church Kalskag AK   This was a mission of Immaculate Conception in Bethel Mission.
1948 1950   Villages between Bethel and McGrath, on the Kuskokwim River AK   These were stations of Immaculate Conception in Bethel Mission.
1950 1951 St. Mary's Mission

Akulurak AK 2/2 St. Mary's had a boarding school and orphanage with 175 students.
1951 1962 St. Ignatius Church Alakanuk AK 1/1

The 1957 Directory show's St. John's School associated with St. Ignatius, in Nunakak, with 19 students.

Llorente was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1960, serving two terms.

1951 1962  

Akulurak, Kwiguk, Imanok, New Knock Hock; Sheldon Point (1954-1962)

Llorente was accused in a 2004 lawsuit of sexually abusing a 6- or 7-year-old boy during 1956-1957 at St. Peter's in Sheldon Point. His accuser said the Llorente would invite the him into his quarters after catechism class, sexually abuse him, then give him hard candy. He said the priest abused other young boys as well.

Llorente was accused in a lawsuit in 2005 of sexually abusing a boy at St. Peter's in Sheldon Point many times from 1956-1963, when the boy was 4- to 11 years-old.

AK   These were stations of St. Ignatius in Alakanuk.

1962

The Fairbanks diocese was established Aug. 8, 1962.

1965 Bishop's House Fairbanks AK    
1962 1965 Bishop's Council Fairbanks AK Diocesan Consultors  
Sept. 1964 Nov. 1965   Nome AK substitute priest  
1965 1967 Immaculate Conception Fairbanks AK 2/3 Immaculate Conception had a grade school with 311 students and a high school with 126 students.
1965 1967   Harding Lake, College AK   These were stations of Immaculate Conception.

1967

Anchorage archbishop was John Joseph Thomas Ryan (1966-1975).

1969 St. Joseph's Cordova AK 1/1; Administrator  
1967 1969 Apostleship of the Sea Cordova AK Port Chaplain  
1969 1970         Llorente is indexed but not listed in the 1970 Directory.
1970 1971 St. Joseph's Cordova AK 1/1; Administrator  
1970 1971 Apostleship of the Sea Cordova AK Port Chaplain  
1971 1974 Holy Family Cathedral Anchorage AK 2/4, 2/3  
1974 1975 Ministry to the Sick and Aged Anchorage AK Director  

1975

Yakima bishop was Nicolas Eugene Walsh (1974-1976), followed by William Stephen Skylstad (1977-1990).

1981 Our Lady of Fatima Moses Lake WA 3/3, 2/2 , 2/3 Llorente's name is followed in the Directories by '(Spain)'.
1982 1983         Llorente is not indexed in the 1982 Directory.

1982

Boise City bishop was Sylvester William Treinen (1962-1988).

1987 St. Joseph's Pocatello ID 2/2, 3/3; In residence. St. Joseph's had a school with 162-169 students.
1984 Nov. 1988 St. Joseph's Hospital Lewiston ID hospital chaplain  

1987

Treinen was succeeded by Tod David Brown (1988-1998).

Nov. 1988 St. Stanislaus' Lewiston ID 3/3; In residence.

St. Stanislaus had a school with 167 students.

 

 

Nov. 1988

Spokane bishop was Lawrence Harold Welsh (1978-1990).

Jan. 1989 Jesuit House Infirmary at Gonzaga University Spokane WA   Llorente died Jan. 26, 1989.

 

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1935-1990)

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
Emmonak - Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Diocese Of Fairbanks
Alakanuk - Saint Ignatius Catholic Church, Diocese Of Fairbanks
More Priests Accused of Abuse, By Mary Beth Smetzer, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner , December 29, 2004
Abuse Claims Breathe Life into Dead Priests' Past, Lawsuit: Plaintiff Says Catholic Church Protected Men Who Molested Him, By Nicole Tsong, Anchorage Daily News, December 30, 2004
Four More Say They Were Abused by Priests, Lawsuit: Three Men, One Woman Bring Number of Plaintiffs to 10, By Lisa Demer, Anchorage Daily News, August 17, 2005
More Victims Added to Priest Abuse Lawsuit, By Mary Beth Smetzer , Fairbanks News-Miner [Alaska] , August 17, 2005
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
Alaskana Catholica: A History of the Catholic Church in Alaska, By Louis L. Renner, s.j.
Excerpt from Bankruptcy Reorganization Documents for Fairbanks Diocese, Jan. 25, 2010, p. 1
Segundo Llorente, The Legendary Jesuit Missionaire in the North Pole, webcatolicodejavier.org


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 Llorente'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 May 20, 2014.