Assignment Record– Rev. John P. "Jack" Connor

Summary of Case: John P. Connor was ordained for the Camden diocese in 1962. He assisted in parishes in Gloucester,
Haddon Heights and Collingswood NJ, and he taught religion and coached golf at a Eustace Preparatory School in Pennsauken.
In 1984 Connor was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy, who was a student at Eustace Prep.
Prosecutors and diocesan attorneys struck a deal that if Connor admitted to the abuse stayed out of trouble for a year his
record would be erased. He was sent to treatment at Southdown Institute in Canada and, in a "bishops helping bishops"
agreement between Camden bishop Guilfoyle and then Pittsburgh bishop Bevilacqua, Connor was allowed to work in the
Diocese of Pittsburgh. He initially worked at a hospital while residing at a Sewickley parish, then was assigned to a parish
in Wexford. When Bevilacqua was made archbishop of Philadelphia, Connor was moved back to that archdiocese and assigned
to St. Matthew's in Conshoshocken. The pastor was not informed of Connor's history. Eyebrows were raised at St. Matthew's
when Connor showered gifts and attention on a third-grade boy. In 1993 Connor's 1984 victim sued and Connor was moved
back to Camden. Connor continued to visit the young boy at the Conshoshocken parish over the next two years, leading both
a nun and a priest there to express their concerns about the visits to the Philadelphia archdiocese. In 2005 the boy's mother told
investigators that she thought Connor had sexually abused her son; the son, however, did not acknowledge abuse occurred. It
wasn't until the 'clergy sex abuse crisis' was making headlines in February 2002 that Connor was removed from active ministry.
He reportedly went on to live in a retirement home for priests in NJ.

Ordained: 1962




 




Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

1962

Camden bishop was Celestine Joseph Damiano (1960-1967).

1965         Connor is not indexed in the 1963-1965 Directories.
1965 1966 St. Mary's Gloucester NJ 5/5 St. Mary's had a school with 796 students.

1966

Damiano was succeeded as Camden bishop by George Henry Guilfoyle (1968-1989).

1972 St. Rose's Haddon Heights NJ 4/6, 3/6, 3/5 St. Rose's had a school with 818-522 students.
1972 1984 St. John's Collingswood NJ 3/4, 3/3 St. John's had a school with 335-246 students.
1970 1984 Bishop Eustace Preparatory School

Pennsauken

Arrested in October 1984 on charges of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy, who was a freshman honors student at Eustace Prep. Connor had taken the boy on an overnight trip to Cape May, where they stayed in the priest's trailer. Connor gave the boy beer and proceeded to molest him. The boy told his cousin, who told the boy's mother. She called the police.

NJ religion teacher, golf coach

Eustace Prep was a boys' school until 1972, when it became co-ed. It had 491-391 boys and 123-331 girls during Connor's tenure.

 

Connor was not prosecuted; in a deal negotiated between the county prosecutor's office and diocesan lawyers, if Connor admitted to molesting the boy and avoided trouble for a year, his arrest record would be erased.

late 1984 October 1985        

Connor was sent to Southdown Institute in Canada for 8 months of treatment.

October 1985

Pittsburgh bishop was Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua (1983-1988).

1986 Sewickley Valley Hospital Sewickley PA   This assignment is per news reports.
October 1985 1986 St. James Sewickley PA In residence. This assignment is per news reports.

1986

 

1988 St. Alphonsus Wexford PA 3/3 St. Alphonsus had a school with 423-425 students.

1988

Philadelphia archbishop was Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua (1988- 2003).

1993 St. Matthew's

Conshoshocken

Connor "showered attentions and gifts" on a boy who was in third-grade in the parish school. Although the boy did not disclose abuse, his mother told investigators in 2005 she believed Connor sexually abused her son.

PA 3/3, 2/4, 2/3

St. Matthew's had a school with 179-160 students.

The Philadelphia Grand Jury report in 2005 determined that, in a "tradition of bishops helping bishops,"
Bevilacqua harbored Connor at St. Matthew's so that the Camden bishop could "avoid scandal." Although Bevilacqua knew Connor posed a serious risk due to his history of perpetrating child sex abuse, he did not inform St. Matthew's pastor.

1993

Camden bishop was James Thomas McHugh (1989-1998), followed by Nicholas Anthony DiMarzio (1999-2003).

2001 Immaculate Conception Bridgeton NJ

4/4, 5/5, 3/3, 3/4

In residence.

Connor's 1984 victim of sexual assault sued in 1993 and received an out of court settlement from the Camden diocese. Connor was moved back to Camden at that time. Over the next two years, Connor would continue to visit with the boy from St. Matthew's in Conshoshocken. A priest and a nun informed the Philadelphia archdiocese of their concerns over the visits.
1993 2002 Bridgeton Hospital Bridgeton NJ Chaplain  
2001 2002 St. Teresa of Avila Bridgeton NJ

2/2

In residence.

Connor was removed
from active ministry in February 2002.

He is not indexed in the Directories beyond 2002.

2002

DiMarzio was replaced as Camden bishop by Joseph Anthony Galante (2004-2013), followed by Dennis Joseph Sullivan (2013-).

      NJ   Per news reports, Connor went to live in a retirement home for priests in New Jersey.

 

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons 1963-2005)

Memo to Bishop Bevilacqua, September 11, 1985
Allegheny County D.A. Looking into Bevilacqua's Pittsburgh Tenure, By Nancy Phillips and David O'Reilly, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 7, 2011
How a Priest's Past Was Hidden, In 1984, the Rev. John P. Connor Molested a Boy. Courts and the Church Concealed His Crime, By David O'Reilly, Philadelphia Inquirer, April 21, 2002
Special Report: Catholic Bishops and Sex Abuse, Dallas Morning News, June 12, 2002
Fighting the Church Scandal, By Christopher K. Hepp, Maria Panaritis and David O'Reilly, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 28, 2002
List of the Accusations Involving Philadelphia Archdiocese Priests, By Craig R. McCoy, Nancy Phillips and MarkFazlollah, Philadelphia [PA] Inquirer, September 17, 2005
Philadelphia Grand Jury Report, September 21, 2005
Philadelphia Grand Jury Report Case Study, September 21, 2005
Philadelphia Grand Jury Report - Overview of the Cover-up by Archdiocese Officials, September 21, 2005
Case Built on Archive of Memos, By Craig R. McCoy, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 22, 2005
Authorities Investigate Cardinal Accused Of Hiding Sexual Abuse by Priests, The PittsburghChannel.com [Pennsylvania],
September 22, 2005
Bevilacqua Brought Convicted Priest Here, By Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania), September 23, 2005
Profiles of 25 Priests Who Are Accused of Sexual Abuse, By Nancy Phillips and Craig R. McCoy, Philadelphia Inquirer,
October 16, 2005
Philadelphia Grand Jury Final Presentment, February 10, 2011, pp. 35-36

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 Connor'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 January 11, 2016.