Rev. Joseph F. Brodnick
Summary of Case: Brodnick was accused of sexual abuse of a teenage girl in Cleveland OH in the mid-1970s. He was suspended from ministry in April 2002, when the diocese of Cleveland received a supoena from the District Attorney and released Brodnick's name to prosecutors. Brodnick had worked in the Rochester diocese since 1997. Rochester diocesan officials knew of the allegation against him when he was hired. Broderick's name was included on the Cleveland diocese's list in 2019 of those against whom there were substantiated allegations. It notes that he was permanently removed from ministry.
Ordained: 1969
Start | Stop | Assignment | Town/Accusations | State | Position | Notes |
1971? Cleveland bishop was Clarence George Issenmann (1966-1974) |
1974 | St. Justin Martyr | Eastlake | OH | 3/3 ,2/2, 4/4
|
Parish had a school with 529-503 students. Brodnick is not indexed in the 1970 or 1971 Directories. |
1974 James Aloysius Hickey replaced Issenmann as bishop (1974-1980) |
1980 | St. Wenceslas | Maple Heights • Accused of sexual abuse of a teenage girl in the mid- 1970s. (Associated Press State & Local Wire |
OH | 2/3, 2/4 | Parish had a school with 596-547 students. |
1980 Anthony Michael Pilla was Hickey's successor (1980-2006) |
1985 | Holy Cross | Euclid | OH | 3/4 | Parish had a school with 420-403 students. |
1983 | 1990 | Diocesan Tribunal Judge | ||||
1985 | 1988 | St. Ann's | Cleveland Heights | OH | 2/3, 2/4 | Parish had a school with 369-348 students. |
1988 | 1990 | St. Matthias | Parma | OH | 1/1
|
|
1990 | 1993 | St. Martha's | Akron | OH | 2/2, 3/3 In residence. |
Parish had a school with 282-295 students. |
1993 | 1997 | Absent on Leave | ||||
1997 Rochester bishop was Matthew Harvey Clark (1979-) |
2002 | St. Joseph's Hospital | Elmira | NY | Chaplain | Rochester diocesan officials knew of the accusation against Brodnick when they allowed him to work in their diocese. Cleveland diocesan officials knew as well. (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle April 11, 2002) |
1997 | 2002 | Elmira Correctional Facility, Center and Camp Monterey | Elmira | NY | ||
1998 | 2002 | St. Mary's | Elmira | NY | 2/2 In residence. |
Parish had a school with 305-240 students, and a CCD program with 241-184 students. |
2002 | 2019 | Administrative Leave | Suspended from ministry in April 2002 due to the allegation of sexual abuse of a teenage girl in the mid-1970s.(Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Brodnick's name was included in 2019 on the Cleveland diocese's list of those with substantiated allegations. It noted that he was permanently removed from ministry. |
Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1972-2009).
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
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This assignment record collates Brodnick's career history as it is represented
in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the
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This assignment record was last updated on April 2, 2021.