Rev. Richard O. Matte

Summary of Case: Accusations of child sexual abuse against Matte are known from nearly every assignment throughout his career as a priest. Most involved boys, and at least one case involved sexual abuse of a girl. He was removed from ministry in 1993 and defrocked in 2005.

Ordained: 1964

     

Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

1964

Boston archbishop was Richard James Cushing (1944-1970)

1966 St. Joseph the Worker Hanson MA 2/2  
1966 1967 Sacred Heart Brockton MA

2/2

 Parish had a school with 170 boys and 150 girls.
1967 1969 St. Joseph's (French)

Salem

• Accused of sexually abusing minors in Salem. (Boston Globe
June 5, 2002)

MA 5/5, 4/5 Parish had a grade school with 245-236 boys and 271-233 girls, and a high school with 40 boys and 87 girls.
1967 1969 St. Therese

Salem

 

 MA   This was a mission of St. Joseph's.

1969

Cushing was succeeded by Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1970-1983)

1970

St. Monica's

Methuen

• Accused of sexually abusing minors here. (Boston Globe
June 5, 2002)

MA

2/3

 

 School had 348 boys and 352 girls.
1970 1976 Xaverian Brothers High School

Westwood

• A student of this school told administrators that Matte was sexually abusing the student's friend during confessions. Matte denied the accusation and the student was suspended for spreading rumors. (Boston Globe
March 6, 2002)

• A man in 2002 stated publicly that Matte "took advantage of" him when he was a Xaverian sophomore in 1976. He said he had gone to Matte for counseling regarding a relationship with a girl. Boston Globe
March 6, 2002)

• One accuser here was Matte's nephew, per church documents. (Boston Globe
June 5, 2002)

MA Chaplain School had 965-745 boys.
1976 1983 St. Joseph's

Pepperell

• Accused of raping a 13 year old boy in the 1970s in the rectory of this parish. His accuser said that Matte canceled a youth group meeting, but didn't tell him. The boy showed up alone and, after raping him, Matte told the boy he would go "straight to hell" if he told. (Boston Globe
February 16, 2002)

• Accused of sexually abusing four adopted and foster children from one family. (Lowell Sun [Lowell, MA]
July 6, 2002)

• Accused of fondling a 14 year old girl who had gone to him for help after her father died. (Lowell Sun [Lowell, MA]
July 6, 2002)

MA 1/2  

1983

Medeiros was followed as archbishop by Bernard Francis Law (1984-2002)

1984 St. Joseph's

Malden

• Accused of having sexually abused a 14 year old boy in the early 1980s. The boy is said to have been abused when he went to Matte to report that assistant priest, Fr. Buntel, had plied him with drugs and alcohol and violently sexually abused him. (Boston Herald
June 5, 2002)

 MA 2/6 Buntel was removed from ministry in 2002 for sexually abusing boys and exposing them to drugs, alchol, and violent pornography.
1984 1988 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Bellingham

• Accused of trying to molest a 17 year old boy who reported to Matte that assistant priest, Fr. Desilets, had been sexually abusing him. Matte responded by telling the boy to take his clothes off. (Boston Globe
June 5, 2002)

 

 

 MA 1/2

Matte was removed from this parish in 1988, per a 2002 lawsuit, due to complaints that he was molesting children. (Lowell [MA] Sun
April 10, 2002)

Matte reported Desilets' sexual abuse of altar boys to Bishop Banks (Boston) and to Desilets' superiors in Canada. (Boston Globe
June 5, 2002)

1988 1993 St. Louis de France (French)

Lowell

• Accused in a 2002 lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy at this parish for four years, beginning when the boy was 13 years old, in 1989. (Lowell [MA] Sun
April 10, 2002)

MA 1/4, 1/2, 1/3, 1/1

Parish had a grade school with 218-275 students. In 1988-1989 it had a high school with 125 girls.

Matte is said to have been removed from this parish in 1993 and sent to treatment, due his sexual abuse of young boys. (Lowell [MA] Sun
April 10, 2002)

1993 1999 Absent on Sick Leave      

Matte was sent to a treatment center in Canada. (Manchester (NH) Union Leader
July 9, 2002)

He began working in 1996 in the Boston archdiocesan personnel office. (Lowell (MA) Sun
April 10, 2002)

1999

Law was replaced by Sean Patrick O'Malley, O.F.M. (2003 -)

2002 Unassigned      

Matte is not indexed in the Directories after 2002.

Said to be living in South Dennis MA in 2002. (Boston Globe
January 28, 2002)

Matte was defrocked in June 2005. (Lowell Sun [Lowell, MA]
June 10, 2005)


Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1965-2002)

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 Matte'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 Aug. 25, 2010