Rev. Ronald E. Brassard-Assignment

Rev. Ronald E. Brassard

Summary of Case: Plaintiff claims he was 13 and student at St. Henry's Seminary in Illinois in 1970s when abuse began. Said Brassard and several other priests abused him. Sued 1995. Diocese said that, due to inconcistencies, Brassard would remain active at Immaculate Conception Parish in Cranston pending further investigation. Still active pastor at same church per diocesan website accessed Feb. 4, 2010.

Ordained: 1974

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1974 Bishop was Louis E. Gelineau (1971-1997)	1976	St. Thomas'	Providence	RI	4/4 Pastor was Msgr. Louis W. Dunn. Rev. Peter M. Cavanaugh was second, then third priest listed, replaced in second spot 1976-1977 by Rev. John C. Halloran. Rev. Robert A. Rochon was third priest 1975-1976. Brassard "in residence" 1974-1975.	Dunn with multiple allegations of sexual assault. Convicted in 1997 of rape (Providence Journal-Bulletin, December 21, 1999). St. Thomas had a school with 253-240 students.
1976	1977	St. Margaret's	Rumford	RI	3/3 Pastor was Msgr. Arthur T. Geoghegan. Rev. Joseph F. Davis was assistant pastor. Brassard was in residence.	St. Margaret's had a school with 321 students.
1977	1983	St. Patrick's	Providence	RI	3/3 Brassard was in residence. Pastor was Rev. Raymond M. Kelly. Assistant pastor 1977-1978 was Rev. Saulius P. Laurinaitis (Col.), replaced thereafter by Rev. Timothy J. Lemlin.	St. Patrick's had a school with 179-149 students.
1983 Bishop of Belleville until April 1984 was John N. Wurm, replaced in December 1984 by James P. Keleher.	1988	National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows	Belleville •Man in 1994 alleged a ring of priests at the Our Lady of the Snows sexually abused him in the early 1980s, and pressured him and other teenage boys into soliciting men as sexual partners for the priests (St. Louis Post-Dispatch February 7, 1994). Brassard named as one of the abusive priests (Providence Journal-Bulletin May 5, 1995)	IL
1988 Bishop from 1997-2005 was Robert E. Mulvee. Thomas J. Tobin became Bishop of Providence in 2005.	2010	Immaculate Conception	Cranston	RI	2/2,1/1,1/5,1/4,/1/3 Brassard was assistant to Pastor Rev. Albert J. Cerrito from1988 to1993, at which time he became Pastor. He was the only priest at Immaculate Conception 1993- 1995, joined in 1995 by Deacons Carmine Forlingieri, Raymond J. LaFrance, Thomas J. Lennon, Thomas R. Raspallo. LaFrance left in 1998, and Lennon in 2000.	Immaculate Conception had a religious education program with 625-452 students.
1973	1975	Diocesan Liturgical Commission Secretary				Brassard held this position prior to as well as after ordination.
1975	1983	Director and Chair of Office for Worship and Liturgy
1980	1983	Assistant Chancellor
1989	1991	Advisory Board to the Office for Workship
1991 1995	1993 1998	Diocesan Liturgical Commission
1991	1998	Diocesan Music Commission

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1974-2007).

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.