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Rev. Martin P. O'Loghlen, SS.CC.
Assignment Record, Documents, and Information Sources


See below for photographs of O'Loghlen, a summary of the case, a detailed assignment record, links to documents, other sources, and other photographs.

Photographs

   

 

Summary of Case

O'Loghlen was accused in late 1995 or early 1996 of sexually abusing a girl at Bishop Amat High School in La Puente CA during the late 1960s. O'Loghlen admitted the abuse, which included sexual intercourse. The survivor made her complaint after O'Loghlen renewed contact with her. At the time of the complaint, he was provincial of the Sacred Hearts' Western United States Province. O'Loghlen was not removed from this position as a result of the complaint, and in fact was reelected for another term. Within ten months of receiving the complaint, the Los Angeles archdiocese invited O'Loghlen to join their Sexual Abuse Advisory Board, and he accepted with the knowledge of the head of his order.

More than seven years later, Cardinal Mahony included O'Loghlen in his Report to the People of God (PDF p. 32, no. 47), listing one accuser. The New York Times published an investigative report on the abuse on 2/12/11. O'Loghlen was removed from his parish only after Times reporter, Jennifer Medina, made inquiries; the Vicar for Clergy, Msgr. Michael Meyers, who had assigned O'Loghlen to the parish, resigned. During his fifty-year career, O'Loghlen has taught in two high schools and was Vice Principal and Principal at one of them; worked in two parishes, one in California and one (as pastor) in the Philippines; and he has worked as a senior official of his religious order, the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, in California and in Rome. O'Loghlen was sent to the Philippines in 2003, when the statute of limitations "window" was in effect, and he was in the Philippines while the Los Angeles settlements were negotiated.

Two priests of the order who are bishops have resigned during the abuse crisis. Bishop Georg Mueller, SS.CC. of the prelature of Trondheim in Norway, abused a boy in the 1990s, and Bishop Brendan Comiskey, SS.CC. of the Diocese of Ferns in Ireland resigned after his role in the cover-up of abuse by Rev. Sean Fortune was revealed. Comiskey trained with O'Loghlen and worked with him in California in the 1960s.

 

Assignment Record

1936 Born

1954-1955  Novitiate of the SS.CC. in Cootehill, Co Cavan
1955-1958  Sacred Hearts Seminary, Wareham MA
1958            Final profession
1958-1961  Queen of Peace Mission Seminary in Jaffrey NH
1961           Ordained in Ireland

1961-1967  Bishop Amat High School, La Puente CA (lived next door) (see letter admitting abuse here)

1967-1968  Damien High School (Vice Principal), La Verne CA
1968-1969  Sacred Hearts residence in La Verne (next door to Damien HS)
1969-1980  Damien High School (1970-1980 as Principal), La Verne CA

1980           School of Applied Theology, Berkeley CA
                   Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles CA, MA in English
                   University of Notre Dame, South Bend IN, Master's degree in Administration
                   In 1981 and 1982 Directories, not indexed;
                   listed as SSCC Councilor Rev. Martin P. O'Laghlen [sic]

1982-1988  SS.CC. General Government, Rome; not indexed in Directory

1988-1996  Holy Name, San Dimas CA, in residence
1988-1995  Director of Development, Western United States Province

1995-2001  Provincial, Western United States Province
1996-          Member of Sexual Abuse Advisory Board of LA archdiocese
1996-2002  Provincial House, La Verne CA (next door to Damien High School)
                    Retreat master, e.g., supervised retreats at the Alta Retreat Center in Wyoming

2002-2003  Whereabouts and job unknown – not indexed or listed in the 2003 Directory

2003-2008  Resurrection of Our Lord parish, Bagong Silang, Philippines, pastor

2008-2009  Provincial House, La Verne CA (next door to Damien High School)

2009-2011  Holy Name parish, San Dimas CA, associate pastor (removed after inquiries
                    by New York Times reporter Jennifer Medina)

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.

Documents

All the documents in a single file

Letter reporting allegation, from Loomis to Losada (1/24/96)

Letter assuming responsibility for investigation, from Losada to Loomis (1/27/96)

Letter stating that O'Loghlen has admitted the "acts" but is "esteemed" and will not be removed as provincial, from Losada to Loomis (2/7/96)

Letter stating that O'Loghlen need not leave the LA archdiocese or be removed as provincial, but that he should be limited to ministry within the order, from Loomis to Losada (3/19/96)

Letter confirming that O'Loghlen will remain provincial and minister within the order, and suggesting that for reasons of "prudence" he no longer live at Holy Name parish in San Dimas, from Losada to O'Loghlen (3/25/96)

Letter describing the burdens of his situation and the difficulty of relocating from Holy Name, from O'Loghlen to Losada (4/5/96)

Letter arranging to meet, from Brooks to the survivor, (4/20/96)

Handwritten letter apologizing, accepting responsibility, and stating that he is a sex addict, from O'Loghlen to survivor (6/23/96)

Handwritten letter enclosing O'Loghlen's letter, offering therapy and stating that O'Loghlen has been reelected provincial, from Brooks to the survivor (6/27/96)

Letter lifting restrictions on ministry and thanking O'Loghlen for agreeing to join the LA archdiocese's Sexual Abuse Advisory Board, from Loomis to O'Loghlen (10/10/96)

Letter of thanks for the appointment to the Sexual Abuse Advisory Board, from O'Loghlen to Loomis (10/14/96)

Letter on developments, including the appointment to the Sexual Abuse Advisory Board, from O'Loghlen to Losada (10/14/96)

 

Sources

Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1962-2010)

Contemplative Outreach News (1/01) [see p. 8]

Report to the People of God (2/17/04) [page 32, no. 47]

Making God’s Kingdom a Reality: SS.CC.’s Resurrection Parish-Bagong Silang,
Philippines Celebrates First Year of Mission Presence
, by Harald Adler, SS.CC. (6/04)

Making God’s Kingdom a Reality: SS.CC.’s Mission Presence—Resurrection Parish-Bagong Silang, Looks Back One Year, by Harald Adler, SS.CC. and Martin O’Loghlen, SS.CC. (7/04)

Martin O'Loghlen 50 Years Professed, by Harald Adler, SS.CC. (10/05)

50th Anniversary Celebration for Bishop Amat High School–2008 (Summer 2008)

Damien, La Verne, in the Rare Old Time and Now, by Bishop Brendan Comiskey (Fall-Winter 2008)

O'Loghlen Is Homilist at Bishop Barnes' Red Mass for Attorneys in the San Bernardino Diocese (6/28/09) [see page 2]

Fr. Martin O’Loughlen Visits Amat (12/2/09)

Biography (12/6/09)

Los Angeles Archdiocese to Dismiss Priest Over Admission of Molesting Girl, by Jennifer Medina, New York Times (2/12/11)

The Holy Name of Mary Parish Website As Modified before the Departure of Rev. Martin P. O'Loghlen Was Announced (1/28/11 and 1/12/11)

 

Places and People

 

Bishop Amat High School, La Puente CA, where O'Loghlen taught 1961-1967. O'Loghlen admits he sexually abused a girl here in the late 1960s, when he was a "sex addict."

 

In the photo below, taken from a Sacred Hearts newsletter, the priest to the right of O'Loghlen is Rev. Luke Zimmer SS.CC. He was accused in 1993 of sexually abusing a girl in 1979-1980 in Wisconsin. See Zimmer's assignment record and the source for this photograph (page 3).

 

Provincial House, La Verne CA, next door to Damien High School, where O'Loghlen lived 1968-1969 and 1996-2002.

 

 Damien High School, La Verne CA, where O'Loghlen was Vice Principal (1967-1968), teacher (1969-1970), and Principal (1970-1980)

 

Page from the Damien High School 1977 Yearbook, showing O'Loghlen as principal (top two photos).

 

Resurrection of Our Lord parish, Bagong Silang, Philippines, where O'Loghlen was pastor 2003-2008.

 

On December 2, 2009, O'Loghlen visited Bishop Amat High School. In a 1996 letter to the survivor, he had admitted that he sexually abused her here in the late 1960s. In 2004, he was listed by Cardinal Mahony (p. 32, no. 47) as accused of abuse committed in the late 1960s, when he taught at Bishop Amat.

 

Authors of the Documents

Msgr. Richard A. Loomis, the Los Angeles archdiocese's Vicar for Clergy in 1996-2000.

 

Very Rev. Enrique Losada, SS.CC., the Superior General of the Sacred Hearts order at the time of the correspondence.

 

Rev. Martin P. O'Laughlen, SS.CC., in an order photograph from 2008. At the time he was accused, O'Loghlen was Provincial of the Western United States Province of the Sacred Hearts order.

 

Rev. Michael J. Brooks, SS.CC., who at the time of the correspondence was pastor of St. Louis church in Cathedral City CA and so-called Vicar Provincial of the Western United States Province of the Sacred Hearts order. He dealt with the allegation as vicar, because the Provincial himself was accused. This photograph was taken in 2008.

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

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