Assignment Record– Rev. Thomas P. Forry

Summary of Case: Forry was accused of sexually abusing three children, two boys and a girl, and of being physically abusive, including beating up his housekeeper and throwing her down the stairs. He refused recommended long term therapy and was allowed to stay in ministry until the clergy sexual abuse crisis erupted in 2002. He was defrocked by the Vatican in 2006.

Ordained: 1966
Laicized: 2006

   

Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

1966

Boston archbishop was Richard James Cushing (1944-1970), followed by Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1970-1983).

1973 St. Elizabeth's Milton MA 3/3  
1973 1982 St. Francis Xavier Cabrini

Scituate

• Accused of beating up his housekeeper, and using threats to silence her. (Boston Globe
December 4, 2002)

MA 2/2, 3/3  

1982

Bernard Francis Law succeeded Medeiros (1984-2002).

1984 St. Joseph's

Kingston

• Forry admitted to a ten year "secret life" on Cape Cod with a woman and her young son. The "affair" had started when the woman was in her teens. Her son told the archdiocese in 1992 that Forry had molested him and badly beaten him. (Boston Globe
December 4, 2002)

 MA 2/2  
1984 1988 St. Francis Xavier

Weymouth

• Accused by a man of having a long term affair with his former wife. The accuser said Forry threatened to kill him if he reported the affair. (Boston Globe
December 4, 2002)

MA 2/4, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4 Forry was sent to a psychiatric clinic in St. Louis for treatment, where long term psychiatric care was recommended. Forry refused, and was allowed to return to St. Francis Xavier.
1988 1993 U.S. Army     Chaplain The Directories note Forry to have also been a VA chaplain 1991-1993.
1993 1994 Awaiting Assignment        
1994 1997 Coordinator of Prison Ministry Waltham MA    
1994 1999 M.C.I. Concord

Concord

• Other prison chaplains complained to the archdiocese in 1999 about Forry's temper. In a separate complaint Forry is said to have shoved food into a nun's mouth at lunch. (Boston Globe
December 4, 2002)

MA Prison Chaplain  
1999 2002 Emergency Response Group

Boston

• In late 2001 a parishioner of a Quincy church where Forry was saying mass recognized Forry as the priest who he said molested him and his sister when they were children years before, the sister over a long period of time. The chancery was notified by the church deacon in October 2001. It was four months before Forry was suspended. (Boston Globe
December 4, 2002)

MA Forry filled in for other priests in parishes throughout the archdiocese.

Suspended from ministry in February 2002 due to a past allegation of child sexual abuse. (Patriot Ledger [Quincy, MA]
February 8, 2002)

Forry was defrocked by the Vatican in March 2006. (Patriot Ledger
March 18, 2006)

Known in 2008 to be living in South Boston. (By Elizabeth Crowley and Lane Lambert
The Patriot Ledger)


Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1967-2002)

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 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 Forry's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation 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 Feb. 19, 2010.