Assignment Record – Rev. Peter P. O'Grady, s.j.

Summary of Case: Oregon Peter P. O'Grady was a Jesuit of the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, ordained in 1933. He served in parishes and schools in the dioceses of Seattle and Spokane WA, Great Falls and Helena MT, Boise City ID and Portland OR. He died in Spokane June 16, 1993. O'Grady was accused in a 2004 lawsuit of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in 1991. The diocese deemed the allegations "proven or credible".

Ordained: 1933
Died: June 16, 1993


     

Start Stop Parish/Assignment Town/Accusations State/Country Position Notes
1933 1943         O'Grady is not indexed in the 1934-1943 Directories.

1943

Seattle bishop was Gerald Shaughnessy, s.m. (1933-1950).

1944 St. Joseph Seattle WA 2/4 St. Joseph's had a school with 285 students.

1944

Spokane bishop was Charles Daniel White (1926-1955).

 

 1949 Gonzaga University Spokane WA    

1949

Shaughnessy was succeeded as Seattle bishop by Thomas Arthur Connolly (195-1975).

Seattle was elevated to archdiocese June 23, 1951.

1952 St. Leo the Great Tacoma WA   St. Leo's had a school with 256-274 boys and 242-272 girls, and a girls' high school with 232-244 students.

1952

Great Falls bishop was William Joseph Condon (1939-1967).

1954 St. Jude Thaddeus Havre MT 3/3, 2/3 St. Jude's had a school with 344-191 students, and a religious vacation school with 33 students.
1952 1954 St. John Cottonwood MT   This was a mission of St. Jude Thaddeus in Havre.

1954

Helena bishop was Joseph Michael Gilmore (1935-1962).

1955 St. Francis Xavier Missoula MT 3/3 St. Francis' had a school with 169 boys and 189 girls.

1955

Spokane bishop was Bernard Joseph Topel (1955-1978).

1957 Gonzaga Preparatory School Spokane WA   Gonzaga Prep. had 667-682 students, all male.
1957 1973 St. Aloysius Spokane WA 5/5, 4/5, 3/5, 3/4, 2/5, 2/6 St. Aloysius had a school with 784-394 students.

1973

Boise City bishop was Sylvester William Treinen (1962-1988).

1974 Our Lady of Lourdes Lewiston ID    

1974

Portland in Oregon archbishop was Cornelius Michael Power (1974-1986).

1979 St. Vincent de Paul Salem OR 3/3 St. Vincent's had a school with 217-180 students.
1979 1980         O'Grady is not indexed in the 1980 Directory.

1980

Boise City diocese

1986 Sacred Heart Boise ID 3/3, 2/2, 3/5 Sacred Heart had a school with 234-173 students.

1986

Spokane bishop was Lawrence Harold Welsh (1978-1990), followed by William Stephen Skylstad (1990-2010).

1993 St. Thomas More Spokane WA fill-in priest  

1986

 

 1993 Regis Jesuit Community

Spokane

• O'Grady was accused in a 2004 lawsuit of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl at Jesuit House in Spokane in 1991. The priest's name was included on the diocese's list of "Admitted, Proven or Credibly Accused Perpetrators of Sexual Abuse."

WA  





 

 

O'Grady died June 16, 1993.

 

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1944-1994)

• Lawsuit Targets Spokane Diocese Oregon Woman Says She Was Abused at Age 12 at Spokane's Jesuit House, By Kevin Blocker, Spokesman Review, January 24, 2004
• Settlements Reached with Five Victims, Associated Press State & Local Wire, December 3, 2004
• Diocese Settles with Five Victims, By Virginia de Leon, Spokesman Review, December 4, 2004
• A Safe Environment for Children & Youth, Catholic Diocese of Spokane, November 3, 2009
• Non-Monetary Undertakings of the Spokane Diocese, Diocese of Spokane , November 21, 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 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 O'Grady'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 June 29, 2014.