Assignment Record – Rev. William C. Wehrle, s.j.

Summary of Case: William C. Wehrle was a Jesuit of the Maryland Province, ordained in 1950. His assignments took him to the archdioceses of Baltimore MD, Washington DC and Omaha NE, as well as to the Pittsburgh and Denver dioceses. In 1985 Wehrle was accused of sexual abuse; he was removed from his Woodstock, MD parish and resurfaced two years later in Pittsburgh, PA. He died in 1995.

Ordained
: 1950
Died: Aug. 25, 1995


     

Start Stop Parish/Assignment Town/Accusations State/Country Position Notes

1950

Baltimore archbishop Francis Patrick Keough (1947-1961).

1951 Sacred Heart Woodstock MD  

1951

Albany bishop was Edmund Francis Gibbons (1919-1954).

1952 Our Lady of Martyrs Auriesville NY Jesuit tertianship  

1952

Baltimore archdiocese

1960 Our Lady of the Wayside Chaptico MD 5/5 In residence.  
1952 1957 Holy Angels Avenue MD   This was a "filial parish" of Our Lady of the Wayside in Chaptico.
1952 1957 Sacred Heart Bushwood MD   This was a "filial parish" of Our Lady of the Wayside in Chaptico.
1952 1957 St. Joseph's Morganza MD   This was a "filial parish" of Our Lady of the Wayside in Chaptico.
1952 1960 Immaculate Conception Mechanicsville MD 1/1 This was a "filial parish" of Our Lady of the Wayside in Chaptico.

1960

Washington DC archbishop was Patrick Aloysius O'Boyle (1947-1973).

1966 St. Ignatius Hilltop MD 1/1  
1960 1966 Sacred Heart La Pata MD In residence. Sacred Heart had a high school with 165-180 students.
1960 1966 St. Catherine of Alexandria McConchie MD   This was a mission of St. Ignatius in Hilltop.
1966 1971 Holy Trinity Washington DC 4/7, 3/6, 3/7, 3/5 Holy Trinity had a grade school with 176-253 students, and a high school with 226-283 students.

1971

Pittsburgh bishop was Vincent Martin Leonard (1969-1983).

1972 Jesuit Residence Pittsburgh PA   The residence was at 1817 Mary St.
1972 1973 Pittsburgh Hospital Pittsburgh PA chaplain  

1973

Omaha archbishop was Daniel Eugene Sheehan (1969-1993).

1974 Creighton University Omaha NE    

1974

Denver bishop was James Vincent Casey (1967-1986).

1976 St. Louis Denver CO 2/2 St. Louis had a school with 250-237 students.
1976 1980 St. Therese Aurora CO 2/2 St. Therese had a school with 465-410 students.
1980 1981 St. James Denver CO 2/3 St. James' had a school with 275 students.
1981 1982         Wehrle is not indexed in the 1982 Directory.

1982

Baltimore archbishop was William Donald Borders (1974-1989).

1985 St. Alphonsus Rodriguez

Woodstock

• Wehrle was accused of sexual abuse in the mid-1980s and removed from St. Alphonsus.

MD 2/2  
1985 1986         Wehrle is not indexed in the 1986 Directory.

1986

Leonard was succeeded as Pittsburgh bishop by Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua (1983-1987), followed by Donald William Wuerl (1988-2006).

1993 SS. Peter and Paul Pittsburgh PA

3/3, 2/2, 2/3

In residence.

 
1993 1995 St. Charles Lwanga Pittsburgh PA

4/6

In residence.

SS. Peter and Paul consolidated with 5 other parishes to form St. Charles Lwanga.

Wehrle died Aug. 25, 1995.

 

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1951-1996)

Archdiocese's list of clergy accused of child sexual abuse, Baltimore Sun, September 26, 2002
Victims to Leaflet Catholic Cathedral, SNAP, May 16, 2014



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 Wehrle'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 July 15, 2014.