Rev. John J. Rebovich- Assignment Record

Assignment Record– Rev. John J. Rebovich (or Rev. John Rebovich, o.s.j.)

Summary of Case: Rebovich was an Oblates of St. Joseph priest in the dioceses of Scranton and Harrisburg PA before becoming a Byzantine Catholic priest. A first allegation in 1975 involved solicitation of oral sex from an altar boy. The boy told officials of the Byzantine Catholic Diocese of Passaic in 1978 but nothing was done. A few months later Rebovich transferred to the Byzantine Catholic diocese of Parma. A 1990 civil suit (settled in 1991) alleges Rebovich raped an altar boy in 1980 in the Parma diocese. The suit also alleges church officials covered up the incident when notified in 1984. Three more plaintiffs filed suit in 1992. Rebovich went on leave in 1990.

Ordained: 1967

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1967	1968					Rebovich is not indexed in the 1967 or 1968 Directories.
1968 Scranton bishop was Joseph Carroll McCormick (1966-1983).	1972	Oblates of St. Joseph Seminary	Pittston	PA	Prefect 1968-1969, Rector 1970-1971	Referred to as Rev. John Rebovich, o.s.j.
1972	1973	St. John the Evangelist	Pittston	PA	4/4 In residence	Parish had a school with 342 students.
1973 Harrisburg bishop was Joseph Thomas Daley (1971-1983).	1974	St. Joseph's	York	PA	3/3 In residence	Parish had a primary and middle school with 519 students.
1973	1974	Trinity High School	Shiremanstown	PA	Assistant to Principal and Guidance Director	Trinity had 585 students.
1974 Passaic Byzantine Catholic bishop was Michael Joseph Dudick (1968-1995).	1978	St. Nicholas	Dunellen • Accused in1990 of sexually abusing a 16 year old altar boy at St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church in Dunellen N.J. in 1975. Rebovich's accuser is said to have told church officials in 1978, who promised to investigate. (United Press International [Cleveland] July 19, 1990)	NJ	1/1	Indexed in the 1975-1978 Directories as at St. Joseph's in York PA, but he is not listed there in the Harrisburg diocesan pages. He is listed in the Passaic diocesan pages at St. Nicholas.
1978 Pittsburgh Byzantine Rite bishop was Stephen John Kocisko (1967-1991).	1979	Byzantine Catholic Seminary	Pittsburgh	PA
1979 Parma Byzantine Rite bishop was Emil J. Mihalik (1969-1984), followed in 1984 by Andrew Pataki (1984-1995).	1985	St. Eugene	Bedford • Accused in a 2002 lawsuit of having sexually abused three boys at St. Eugene's, from 1978 to 1981, when the boys were 15 to 17 years old. (Akron Beacon Journal [Ohio] June 20, 2002)	OH	1/1
1985	1990	St. Michael's	Akron • Rebovich was removed from St. Michael's in April 1990 when he was accused in a lawsuit of having raped an altar boy. The lawsuit also claimed that church officials knew of previous allegations against Rebovich in New Jersey. (Akron Beacon Journal [Ohio] June 20, 2002)	OH
1990	1991					Not listed in the 1991 Directory.
1991	2010	Absent on Leave				Rebovich is not indexed beyond the 2010 Directory.

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1968-2010).

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 Rebovich'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 April 14, 2015.