Fr. Anthony J. Petracca
Worked short-term as an assistant in a number of parishes, and as a hospital chaplain and campus minister. There are several gaps in Petracca’s assignment history: 1988-1989 (not indexed in the Catholic Directory), 2000-2010 (Absent on Leave), 2010-2012, 2014-2015 (not indexed in the Catholic Directory). He is listed as in residence at a Salt Lake City, UT parish while on leave 2004-2005. He was reportedly in active ministry 2003-2004 at Marmion Abbey in Aurora, IL. Petracca was placed on leave 7/5/2017 due to an allegation of an incident of misconduct with a minor in the mid-1980s. Law enforcement was notified, per the Diocese. His name was included on the Diocese’s list of credibly accused as of 1/16/2020, noting that he remained on leave pending the Diocese’s decision. On 10/11/2023 Petracca was arrested at his home in Holidaysburg, charged with child pornography possession and criminal use of a communication facility. He died 8/25/2024. Per his obituary, Petracca once “even tried a vocation with the Carthusian hermits in Vermont.”
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