Rev. James E. Poole, S.J.-Assignment

Rev. James E. Poole, S.J.

Accused of sexually abusing girls in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly at St.Mary's Mission Boarding School. The Jesuits transferred him from Alaska to Portland Oregon, where he is also accused of abusing a young girl. Poole named in multiple lawsuits, which resulted in settlements.

Ordained: 1953

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1953 San Francisco archbishop was John Joseph Mitty (1935-1961)	1954	Alma College	Los Gatos	CA		This was the theologate of the California Province of the Society of Jesus. There were 45 priests, 79 scholastics, and 14 brothers.
1954 Seattle archbishop was Thomas Arthur Connolly (1950-1975)	1955	Seattle University	Seattle	WA
1955	1956	Manresa Hall	Port Townsend	WA		Jesuit Tertianship
1956 Fairbanks bishop was Francis Doyle Gleeson, S.J. (1948-1968)	1959	St. Lawrence	Mountain Village	AK	1/1
1956	1959		Pilot Station	AK		This was a station of St. Lawrence in Mountain Village.
1956	1959		Chukartulik	AK		This was a station of St. Lawrence in Mountain Village.
1956	1959		Marshall	AK		This was a station of St. Lawrence in Mountain Village.
1959	1964	St. Mary's Mission	St. Mary's • Said to have been removed as headmaster for behavior with young girls at St. Mary's. (Associated Press September 12, 2006)	AK	1/2 Poole was the Superior. Working under him were Rev. Lawrence Haffle, S.J. 1959-1961, Rev. Robert Corigal, S.J. 1961-1963, and Rev. John Fox, S.J. 1963-1964.	St. Mary's had a grade school with 35-48 day students and 132-125 boarders, and a high school with 7-15 day students and 22-32 boarders. The 1965 Directory indexes Poole at Jesuit High School in Portland OR, and not at St. Mary's in AK. However he remains listed in the Fairbanks diocesan pages at St. Mary's. He is also listed in the Portland diocesan pages of the 1965 Directory at Jesuit High School.
1964 Portland archbishop was Edward Daniel Howard (1926-1966)	1965	Jesuit High School	Portland • A 2007 lawsuit names Poole as priest who molested a 7 or 8 yr. old girl in Portland in 1964. (Associated Press, carried in KATU February 27, 2007)	OR		Jesuit High School had 511 students, all male.
1965	1966	St. Patrick's	Barrow • In a 2006 lawsuit a woman accused Poole of sexually abusing her for eight years, beginning in 1965 when she was 6 yrs. old. Poole was her catechism teacher and family friend. She was the sixth woman to file suit. (Associated Press September 12, 2006)	AK	1/1
1966 Robert Louis Whelan, S.J. replaced Gleeson as Fairbanks bishop (1948-1985)	1979	St. Joseph's	Nome • Accused of molesting a girl beginning in 1978, and ending when the girl was 16 yrs. old. The Jesuits settled with her in 2005. (The Associated Press, carried in Anchorage Daily News [Anchorage AK] March 2, 2005) • Another woman sued in 2005, alleging sexual abuse by Poole in 1968 or 1969, when she was 7 yrs. old. Hers was the fourth lawsuit against Poole, and there had been an out of court case against him. (Anchorage Daily News November 3, 2005) • The second woman to file suit, in June 2005, stated that Poole sexually abused her for 8 years, beginning when she was 12 yrs. old. Also, she alleged that he impregnated her when she was14, and Poole told her to abort the pregnancy and blame it on her father. (Native American Times March 3, 2008)	AK	1/2, 1/1 Working with Poole 1966-1967 was Rev. Andrew Eordogh, S.J. Rev. Harold J. Greif, S.J. is the second priest listed 1969-1979.	Eordogh accused of sexual abuse of a young boy (Fairbanks News-Miner [Alaska] February 9, 2006).
1966	1971	King Island Village		AK		This was a station and later a mission of St. Joseph's in Nome (first noted to be a mission in the 1971 Directory).
1966	1979	Little Diomede Island		AK		This was a station and later a mission of St. Joseph's in Nome (first noted to be a mission in the 1971 Directory).
1966	1979	Teller		AK		This was a station and later a mission of St. Joseph's in Nome (first noted to be a mission in the 1971 Directory).
1979 Oakland bishop was John Stephen Cummins (1977-2003)	1980	Jesuit School of Theology	Berkeley	CA
1980 Michael Joseph Kaniecki, S.J. replaced Whelan as Fairbanks bishop (1985-2000)	1988	St. Joseph's	Nome	AK	3/3, 2/2 Pastors were Rev. Paul B. Macke, S.J. 1980-1983, Rev. Thomas F. Carlin, S.J. 1983-1985, Rev. Joseph G. Stolz, S.J. 1985-1987, and Rev. Charles J. Peterson, S.J. 1987-1988. Priests in the second spot were Rev. Harold J. Greif, S.J. 1980-1983, then Poole 1983-1988.
1980	1987	KNOM Radio	Nome	AK		Per news reports, Poole was the founder of this Catholic radio station. (The Associated Press, carried in Anchorage Daily News [Anchorage AK] March 2, 2005) According to the KNOM website, it's debut was in 1971. The website in March 2009 does not mention Poole.
1980	1988	Little Diomede Island		AK		This was a mission of St. Joseph's in Nome.
1980	1988	Teller		AK		This was a mission of St. Joseph's in Nome.
1987	1988	Unalakleet		AK		This was a mission of St. Joseph's in Nome.
1988 Seattle archbishop was Raymond Gerhadt Hunthausen (1975-1991)	1989	Bellarmine High School	Tacoma	WA	In residence	This was a coeducational Jesuit high school with 870 students.
1988	1989	St. Joseph's Hospital and Health Care Center	Tacoma	WA	chaplain
1989	1990	?				Poole is not indexed or listed in the diocesan pages of the 1990 Directory.
1990 Hunthausen was replaced as archbishop by Thomas Joseph Murphy (1991-1997), followed by Alexander Joseph Brunett (1997- )	2003	Bellarmine High School	Tacoma	WA	In residence	This was a coeducational Jesuit high school with 920-998 students.
1990	2003	St. Joseph's Hospital and Health Care Center	Tacoma	WA	chaplain
2003	2007	Retired/Regis Community	Spokane	WA		Regis Community is a residence for Jesuits.

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1954-2007).

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.