NEW YORK
BishopAccountability.org
Summary of Case: Joseph P. Rappl was a Buffalo diocesan priest, ordained in 1978. He assisted at parishes in Lewiston, West Seneca, Holley and Hulberton until 1989. There is an unexplained gap in his work history 1989-1990. During 1990-1999 he was an Army chaplain in California, New York, Washington DC and North Carolina. Beyond that he appears to have left the priesthood, settling in North Carolina where he becamed married and performed sacraments as a “Roman Catholic priest” who was “no longer in the clerical state.” He also was a volunteer at a youth camp for the Buffalo diocese.
On March 19, 2018 a 48-year-old man filed a complaint with the diocese, accusing Rappl of having sexually abused him as an 11-year-old altar boy in 1981, at St. Peter’s in Lewiston. The man said he had asked Rappl to hear his confession and that the abuse occurred afterward, outside the confessional. On March 20, 2018 the diocese released a list of names of credibly accused priests and lay volunteers and employees. Rappl’s name was not included.
Ordained: 1978
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