Rev. Freddie Byrd

Assignment Record– Rev. Freddie Byrd

Summary of Case: Freddie Byrd was ordained a priest of the Owensboro KY diocese in 1988. He worked in a number of parishes and, beginning in 1997, pastored several. He was a faculty member in the late 1980s at Owensboro Catholic High School, and at St. Meinrad Seminary in IN during the 1990s. In 2008 a 23-year-old man shot and killed himself outside of Blessed Mother parish, where Byrd was pastor. The man left a suicide note in which he said he experienced "pain and torment" because of sexual abuse in the Catholic church. He mentioned Byrd, and said of him, "I forgive you." He did not name Byrd as an abuser. In June 2016 Byrd was suspended from ministry due to allegations that he had sexually abused a 17-year-old boy in 1983, prior to ordination. In September 2016 he was reinstated after the Diocesan Review Board determined that there was "insufficient information to substantiate the allegation."

Ordained: 1988

Start	Stop	Assignments	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1988 Diocese of Owensboro Bishop was John Jeremiah McRaith (1982-2009).	1990	St. Stephen's Cathedral	Owensboro	KY	4/4, 3/3
1988	1990	Owensboro Catholic High School	Owensboro	KY		Owensboro Catholic had 691-631 students.
1990	1992	Blessed Mother	Owensboro	KY	2/3	Blessed Mother had a CCD program with 115 students.
1992 Archdiocese of Indianapolis Archbishop was Daniel Marck Buechlein, O.S.B. (1992-2011).	1997	St. Meinrad Seminary - College of Liberal Arts	St. Meinrad	IN
1997	1998	SS Joseph and Paul	Owensboro	KY	1/1
1998 Diocese of Owensboro Bishop was John Jeremiah McRaith (1982-2009).	2008	Blessed Mother	Owensboro	KY	1/3, 1/4	Blessed Mother had a CCD program with 95-89 students. In 2008 a young man shot and killed himself outside of Blessed Mother parish. He left a suicide note on Facebook which said of Byrd, "I forgive you." He spoke of "pain and torment" over sex abuse in the Church, but did not name a perpetrator.
2008 McRaith was succeeded as Owensboro bishop by William Francis Medley (Dec. 2009-).	2012	Sacred Heart	Waverly	KY	1/1	Sacred Heart had a CCD program with 10-5 students.
2008	2012	St. Peter's	Waverly	KY	1/1	St. Peter's had a CCD program with 56-36 students.
2012	2016	St. Ann's	Morganfield	KY	1/1	St. Ann's had a CCD program with 40-62 students. Byrd was suspended from ministry in June 2016 due to allegations that he had sexually abused a 17-year-old boy in 1983, prior to ordination. In September 2016 Byrd was reinstated. Per the Diocesan Review Board, "On September 14, 2016 the Diocesan Review Board further explored the information that has been compiled and counseled the bishop that there was insufficient information to substantiate the allegation."

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.

Source: Official Catholic Directory (Kenedy & Sons, 1989-2014).

• Outside Investigator to Examine Facebook Posts on Priest Abuse, By Beth Wilberding, Lexington Herald-Leader, February 8, 2011
• No Indictments Made in Owensboro Suicide Note Accusations, By Western Kentucky, Tristate Homepage, August 4, 2011
• Statements to Police in Alleged Abuse Case Conflict with Report by Owensboro Diocese, By Peter Smith, The Courier-Journal, September 21, 2011
• Owensboro Diocese Suspends Western Ky. Priest Over Sexual Allegation, By Lisa Autry, WKMS, June 14, 2016
• Diocese Suspends Pastor After Sexual Abuse Allegations, ABC News, June 14, 2016
• Morganfield Priest Reinstated after Investigation, Tristate Homepage, September 19, 2016

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 Byrd's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with the allegations against him, as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegations 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 September 26, 2016.