Fr. Francis P. Melfe

Ordained: 1954
Status: Sued

Died: 09/20/2019
Diocese: Diocese of Albany NY

Named publicly as accused by the diocese on its list 11/30/18. (First name spelled ‘Frances’ on list, Catholic Directory shows him as ‘Francis P.’) Resigned in 1979. Laicized in 2012, per his request. Involved with a single mother with four children while still a priest, fathered a son with her. They later married, then divorced. In 2019 the adult children – male and female – spoke publicly about abuse they suffered by Melfe, including sexual, and that Bishops Hubbard and Broderick knew Melfe was living with them. The five siblings filed suit under the NY Child Victims Act. Accused, along with Bishop Hubbard and Fr. Albert DelVecchiho, in a 9/19 suit of abuse of a girl in a Schenectady rectory in the late 1970s. Melfe died 9/20/19, age 91.


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