Rev. James F.X. Pratt, s.j.-Assignment

Assignment Record – Rev. James F.X. Pratt, s.j.

Summary of Case: A member of the Society of Jesus of the New England Province ordained in 1986, Pratt was removed from active ministry as a University Chaplain in Tennessee in 2003 after he was accused of having sexually abused a high school senior in the early 1980s. Pratt was a seminarian and teacher at a Connecticut high school in the early '80s. He is last known to be working as the Director of the Jesuit Historical Institute in Rome, Italy.

Ordained: 1986

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State/Country	Position	Notes
1981 Bridgeport bishop was Walter William Curtis (1961-1988).	1983	Fairfield College Prep. High School	Fairfield • Pratt was accused in 2003 of having sexually abused a senior in high school during his time at Fairfield College Prep.	CT	seminarian; teacher
1986 Bishop of the Oakland diocese was John Cummins (1977-2003).	1987	The Jesuit Community at Berkeley	Berkeley	CA		Received a Masters of Divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley in 1987.
1987	1988					Pratt is not indexed in the 1988 Directory.
1988 Nashville diocese bishop was James D. Niedergeses (1975-1992).	1990	Cathedral of the Incarnation	Nashville	TN	6/6 In residence.
1990 Bernard Law was Boston archbishop (1984-2002).	1992	The Jesuit Community at Boston College	Chestnut Hill	MA
1992 Bishop of the Worcester diocese was Timothy J. Harrington (1983-1994), replaced by Daniel P. Reilly (1994-2004).	1995	Jesuits of Holy Cross College	Worcester	MA
1994	1996	The Society of Jesus New England Provincial Offices	Boston	MA
1996 Bishop of the Nashville diocese was Edward U. Kmiec (1992-2004).	2001	Cathedral of the Incarnation	Nashville	TN	4/4, 5/5, 5/7 In residence.
1996	2003	Vanderbilt University	Nashville	TN	Chaplain	Received a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt in 2002.
1996	2003	Diocesan Coordinator of Campus Ministries	Nashville	TN
1998	2003	Diocesan Presbyteral Council and College of Consultors	Nashville	TN
2003 Archbishop of Boston is Sean P. O'Malley (2003-)	2004	Loyola House	Boston	MA		Pratt was removed from ministerial duties due to accusations of sexual misconduct dating to his time as a seminarian (1981-1983) at Fairfield College Preparatory School in Fairfield, CT.
2004		The Society of Jesus New England Provincial Offices	Boston	MA		Pratt, James F. X., ’76, Jesuit Adm. Dir. of the Jesuit Historical Institute (Rome) [Vanderbilt]
		Jesuit Historical Institute	Rome	Italy	Director

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1986-2007).

• VU's Catholic Chaplain Removed, Charges of Sexual Abuse Predate His Ordination, By Brian Lewis, The Tennessean, March 10, 2003
• Some Say Chaplain's Removal Too Harsh, By Brian Lewis, The Tennessean, March 16, 2003
• 2 Ex-Prep Teachers Accused of Sex Misconduct, By Genevieve Reilly, Connecticut Post [Bridgeport], March 21, 2003
• holycross.edu, May 2013

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 Pratt'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 May 2, 2013.