Assignment Record– Rev. Joseph Aloysius Browne
Summary of Case: Browne was accused in a 2003 lawsuit of having sexually abused a teenage girl in the early 1960s, gotten her pregnant, and paid for her to have an abortion. The girl was a resident of a diocesan Children's Home, where Browne was a counselor. He left the priesthood in 1970, married and moved to Canada. Browne died January 13, 2013.
Born: December 31, 1930
Ordained: 1956
Died: January 13, 2013
Start | Stop | Assignment | Town/Accusations | State | Position | Notes |
1956 Covington bishop was William Theodore Mulloy (1944-1959). |
1957 | St. Joseph Heights/Clinic for Retarded Children |
Covington |
KY | 2/2 In residence. |
This was the Provincialate and Novitiate of the Sisters of Notre Dame. The clinic had 42 pupils. |
1957 Mulloy was succeeded by Richard Henry Ackerman, C.S.Sp. (1960-1978). |
1961 | St. Patrick's | Maysville | KY | 2/2 | Parish had a grade school with 109-131 boys and 102-115 girls, and a high school with 46-47 boys and 34-42 girls. |
1957 | 1960 | Chapel of the Infant Jesus | Morehead | KY | This was a mission of St. Patrick's in Maysville. | |
1960 | 1961 | Our Lady of Lourdes | Glen Springs | KY | This was a mission of St. Patrick's in Maysville. | |
1961 Cincinnati archbishop was Karl Joseph Alter (1950-1969). |
1962 | The Fenwick Club | Cincinnati | OH | Browne is indexed in the 1962 Directory as at 435 Commercial Square, Cincinnati, which was the address for the Fenwick Club. The Fenwick was a Catholic organization which provided rooms for men ages 18-40, per a 2010 google search. | |
1962 Columbus bishop was Clarence George Issenmann (1957-1964). |
1963 | Our Lady of Peace | Columbus | OH | Browne obtained a Master of Social Work degree from Ohio State University in 1963. | Browne is indexed in the 1963 Directory as at 60 Dominion Blvd., Columbus, which was the rectory for Our Lady of Peace. However, he is not listed as there in the Columbus diocesan pages. The parish had a school with 400 students. |
1963 | 1964 | Mount St. Martin Institute for Young Women and Home For Working Girls | Newport | KY | In residence. | The Home had 23 resident women. |
Diocesan Children's Home | Ft. Mitchell • Browne was accused in a 2003 lawsuit of having sexually abused a teenage female resident of the Children's Home. She lived at the home from 1963-1966. Browne's accuser stated that she became pregnant and that Browne arranged for her to have an abortion. (Associated Press State & Local Wire |
KY | counselor | This assignment is per news reports. | ||
1964 | 1967 | Covington | KY | Browne is indexed in the 1966, 1967 and 1968 Directories as at 15 E. 11th St., Covington. This was very near Covington Latin School (a boys advanced placement high school), and around the corner from the Cathedral. | ||
Catholic Social Services | Covington | KY | assistant director | This assignment is per news reports. (Cincinnati Enquirer April 25, 2003) |
||
St. Vincent DePaul Society | co-chair | This assignment is per news reports. (Cincinnati Enquirer April 25, 2003) |
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1967 | 1969 | St. Anthony's | Latonia | KY | 2/2 | Parish had a school with 152-119 boys and 173-136 girls. |
1969 | 1978 | Absent on Leave | Ontario, Canada | Browne is last indexed in the 1978 Directory. Browne left the priesthood, married, and moved to Canada. He died in Canada January 13, 2013. |
Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1957-1978)
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
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This assignment record collates Browne'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 September 19, 2016.