Rev. Garrett "Gary" D. Orr, s.j.

Summary of Case: Orr was accused in the fall of 2003 of having molested one of his Georgetown Preparatroy students in 2002. The school didn't report the accusation to the police until May 2004. Although "suspended", Orr was allowed involvement in Campus Ministry and to direct a musical production at Loyola College in Maryland. A Jesuit review board deemed the accusation to be "substantially true" in 2006, and Orr was given a leave of absence.

Ordained: 1983

     

Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes
1983 1984         Orr is not indexed in the 1984 Directory, but later volumes note his ordination year to have been 1983.

1984

Philadelphia archbishop was John Joseph Krol (1961-1988), followed by Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua (1987-2003)

1989 St. Joseph's Preparatory Jesuit Community Philadelphia PA This Jesuit high school had 888-760 students, all male.
1989 1990         Orr is not indexed or listed at his previous or subsequent assignments in the 1989 Directory.

1990

Washington D.C. archbishop was James Aloysius Hickey (1980-2000), followed by Theodore Edgar McCarrick (2000-2006)

2003 Georgetown Preparatory School

Rockville/North Bethesda

• Orr was accused in the fall of 2003 of having sexually abused a Georgetown Prep student in 2002. The school waited until May of 2004 to report the accusation to the police. (The Washington Times
April 19, 2006)

MD Religion, Latin and Theater teacher; Orr is listed as Superior from 2000-2006. This Jesuit boarding school had 399-445 students, all male.

2003

Baltimore archbishop was William Henry Keeler (1989-2007)

2006 Loyola College Baltimore MD teacher Orr was suspended from his "priestly standing" when the police were contacted in May 2004. He stayed, however, at Loyola through the 2004-2005 school year, "without one-on-one contact with students.", per the Provincial of the Maryland Jesuits. (The Washington Times
April 19, 2006) The school's student newspaper reported that Orr worked during that time in Campus Ministry, as a retreat and prayer group coordinator and participant, and he directed the school's production of "Godspell". (Loyola Greyhound
April 25, 2006)

2006

Edwin Frederick O'Brien replaced Keeler as archbishop (2007- )

2009 Baltimore Jesuit Fathers and Brothers Maryland Provincial Curia Baltimore MD   Per 2006 news reports, a Jesuit Review Board deemed the accusation as "substantially true". The police investigation was suspended in March 2005, without charges being filed. The Jesuits gave Orr a year's leave of absence in Sept. 2005, and he was told not to visit Georgetown Prep. (The Washington Times
April 19, 2006)


Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1984-2009)

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 Orr'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 27, 2010