Assignment Record – Rev. Andrew (Andras) M. Eordogh, s.j.

Summary of Case: Andrew Eordogh was a Jesuit priest of the Hungarian Province, ordained in 1959. He was assigned to parish work in Canada for several years, spent 1966-73 at Holy Cross Mission in Alaska, then returned to Canada. He went home to to Hungary in 1991. He was accused in a 2006 lawsuit, along with another Jesuit, of sexually abusing an Alaskan boy, ages 4  to 7, in the late 1960s. Eordogh returned to Canada in 2008, where he died April 11, 2020, at age 92.

Ordained: 1959
Died: April 11, 2020

1967

Fairbanks bishop was Francis Dolye Gleeson, s.j. (1948-1968). Gleeson was succeeded by Robert Louis Whelan, s.j. (1968-1985).

Holy Cross Mission

Holy Cross

• Eordogh was accused in a 2006 lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy in the late 1960s, when the boy was a young Catholic school student in the village of Holy Cross. The boy was said to have been first abused at age 4 by Rev. Bernard McMeel, who then handed the boy off to Eordogh. The abuse is said to have continued until the boy was 7 years-old.

McMeel, known as "Father Barney" worked in Alaska from 1955-1978.

This was a station of Holy Cross Mission in Holy Cross.

Eordogh is not indexed beyond the 1973 Directory.

Per his obituary, he went went from Alaska back to Canada, then returned to Hungary in 1991. In 2008 he was back in Canada, where he died April 11, 2020, at age 92.       

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1968-1973)

• Alaska Digest, Anchorage Daily News, February 9, 2006
• Excerpt from bankruptcy reorganization documents for Fairbanks Diocese, January 25, 2012, p. 2.
• 2 More Priests Face Sex Abuse Suits, By Mary Beth Smetzer, Fairbanks News-Miner [Alaska], February 9, 2006
• Lawsuit Alleges Sexual Abuse by Former Hays Priest, By Larry Kline lkline@havredailynews.com, Havre Daily News, February 10, 2006
• Diocese Researching Accusations about Former Hays Priest, By Larry Kline, Havre Daily News [Montana], February 10, 2006
• Jesuit Abuse Settlement Aims to Heal, $50 Million: Religious Order's Head Says Church Failed Victims in Alaska, By Lisa Demer, Anchorage Daily News, November 20, 2007
• Good Jesuit, Bad Jesuit, November 12, 2009
• Jezsuita arcképcsarnok, Hungarian Province, accessed March 12, 2019

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 Eordogh'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 11, 2020.