Rev. Harold Robert White-Assignment

Rev. Harold Robert White – Assignment Record

Summary of Case: The Colorado Attorney General's report in 2019 called Whitle "the most prolific known clergy child sex abuser in Colorado history" who likely abused at least 63 children, ages 9-18. He has been accused of child sexual abuse in lawsuits filed by at least 30 men and women. Excerpts from White's personnel file show that the archdiocese by knew by December 13, 1961 that White had solicited a boy to perform 'an unnatural act contrary to the Sixth Commandment', and by January 6, 1965, the archdiocese had already decided to transfer White for a second time owing to his 'boy troubles'. He was sent to New Mexico for treatment in December 1981, then reassigned to a parish the following month. White worked in 11 parishes in 33 years, was removed from active ministry in 1993 and was laicized in 2004. He died November 14, 2006 in Cancún, Mexico, while on vacation. Ten suits settled in January 2007. Others settled in July 2008. Three more were filed in July 2008.

Ordained: 1960
Died: November 14, 2006

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1960 Denver archbishop was Urban John Vehr (1931-1967).	1963	St. Catherine's	Denver • Archdiocesan officials knew of an allegation against White in 1960. Church documents show that White was accused of sexually abusing 30 children between 1960 and 1981. (Denver Post, July 3, 2008) At least one man has reported that White abused him in 1959 or 1960, before he was ordained. (Associated Press, January 19, 2006)	CO	3/3	St. Catherine's had a school with 532-512 students.
1963	1965	St. Mary's	Colorado Springs • White's godson reported in 2005 that he was molested as a child by White, at White's family cabin in Grand Lake, beginning in about 1963. (Denver Post, August 18, 2005)	CO	5/5, 4/4	St. Mary's had a high school wtih 575 students.
1965 James Vincent Casey replaced Vehr as archbishop (1967-1986).	1968	St. Anthony's	Sterling • In the 1960s, Rev. James Kane reported a complaint of sexual abuse against White to the archbishop, while White was at this parish. (Denver Post [Denver CO] August 1, 2005) A woman in 2005 accused White of having sexually abused her as a girl from 1955-1968 at St. Anthony's. (Rocky Mountain News, September 8, 2005)	CO	3/3	St. Anthony's had a grade school with 293-267 students, and a high school with 131-138 students.
1968	1970	St. John the Evangelist	Loveland • At least one man has accused White of sexually assaulting him when he was a boy at this parish. (Rocky Mountain News, September 8, 2005)	CO	2/2	St. John's had a school with 197-178 students.
1970	1978	St. Patrick's	Minturn • Accused in 2005 of having sexually abused a boy at this parish in the early 1970s. (Denver Post July 26, 2005)	CO	1/1, 1/2
1970	1978	St. Mary's	Eagle	CO		This was a mission of St. Patrick's in Minturn.
1970	1978	Our Lady of Mt. Carmel	Red Cliff	CO		This was a mission of St. Patrick's in Minturn.
1970	1978	The Interfaith Chapel	Vail	CO		This was a mission of St. Patrick's in Minturn.
1978	1981	St. Mary's	Aspen • Accused of having sexually abused at least one boy while at this parish. The boy told his parents, who contacted the archdiocese and White was "gone within the week." (The Aspen Times, August 4, 2005)	CO	1/1	White was sent to the Paracletes' Via Coeli in New Mexico for treatment in July 1981. He was released in December 1981 then reassigned to a parish in January 1982. (The Post Independent, October 28, 2019.
1981	1983	Church of the Good Shepherd	Denver	CO	3/4	This parish had a school, preschool through eight grade.
1983	1986	SS. Peter and Paul	Wheat Ridge	CO	3/3, 2/3 Co-Pastor	This parish had a school with 398-370 students.
1986 James Francis Stafford became bishop after Casey (1986-1996).	1989	St. Anne's	Grand Lake	CO	1/1
1986	1987		Walden	CO		This was a mission of St. Anne's in Grand Lake.
1987	1989	Our Lady of the Snow	Granby	CO		This was a mission of St. Anne's in Grand Lake.
1987	1989	St. Bernard	Fraser-Winter Park	CO		This was a mission of St. Anne's in Grand Lake.
1989	1990	Holy Names	Steamboat Springs	CO	2/2
1989	1990		Oak Creek	CO		This was a mission of Holy Names in Steamboat Springs
1990	1993	St. Patrick's	Minturn	CO	2/2
1990	1993	Our Lady of Mt. Carmel	Red Cliff	CO		This was a mission of St. Patrick's in Minturn.
1990	1993	The Interfaith Chapel	Vail	CO		This was a mission of St. Patrick's in Minturn.
1990	1993	Avon Catholic Community	Beaver Creek	CO		This was a mission of St. Patrick's in Minturn.
1990	1992	St. Mary's	Eagle	CO	1/1 Administrator
1993 Charles Joseph Chaput, O.F.M.Cap. replaced Stafford as archbishop (1997- ).	2002	Absent on Leave				White no longer appears in the Directories after 2002. White left active ministry in 1993, was defrocked by the Vatican in 2004, and died in 2006 while vacationing in Cancun, Mexico. (Rocky Mountain News, November 17, 2006)

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1961-2002).

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 & 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 was last updated March 4, 2021.