Rev. Ronald D. Provost-Assignment

Rev. Ronald D. Provost

Ordained: 1970

Provost was convicted in 1993 of photographing a semi-nude ten year old boy in 1992. He received a ten year suspended prison sentence on the condition that he stay away from young children. During the investigation of the 1992 incident, Provost handed to police more than 100 photos he had of nude boys. He also was found to have child porn magazines. The boy's family unsuccessfully sued the diocese and bishop in 1996. Bishop Harrington knew in 1980 of concerns about Provost's photos of boys, sending him to treatment at the House of Affirmation, but keeping him in ministry. Provost became a pastor in 1988.

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1970 Bishop of Worcester was Bernard Joseph Flanagan (1959-1983)	1971	St. Mary's	Southbridge	MA	2/3 Provost worked under Rev. Andrew J. Sullivan. In residence was Rev. George O. Lange.	St. Mary's had a school with 148 boys and 129 girls.
1971	1972	Immaculate Heart of Mary	Winchendon	MA	2/2 Pastor was Rev. Alcide J. Brousseau.
1972	1975	St. Bernard	Fitchburg	MA	4/4, 4/5 Pastor was Rev. Bernard J. Conlin, second priest was Glenn F. Downer. Ralph A. Di Orio is listed third, just before Provost 1973-1974, and is last and in residence 1974-1975. Rev. James A. Lehane was in the third spot, before Provost, 1974-1975.
		St. Camillus	Fitchburg	MA		This assignment is per news reports. (Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts) January 19, 1996)
1975	1979	St. Peter's	Worcester	MA	4/4, 5/5 Msgr. David C. Sullivan was pastor, and Rev. Bernard R. Reilley assistant pastor. Listed third is Rev. John P. Kochanowski 1975-1976. Rev. Bernard F. Davenport is listed third 1976-1979. Rev. Charles E. Borowski is listed fourth, and before Provost, 1976-1977.	Reilley was accused in a 2004 lawsuit of sexual assault of a girl ages 2-8 in the 1950s. (Telegram & Gazette December 30, 2004)
1979	1981	Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Ann	Worcester • Provost testified in 1996 civil trial that Bishop Harrington asked him during his time at this parish if he had taken nude pictures of boys. Harrington subsequently sent Provost to the House of Affirmation for out patient treatment for several months, and allowed him to continue in his work at Our Lady of Mt. Carmen and St. Ann. (Telegram & Gazette January 24, 1996) Harrington contradicted Provost's testimony, saying he sent Provost to the House of Affirmation to "broaden his ministry", and not because he thought Provost had a sexual problem. (Telegram & Gazette January 26, 1996)	MA	2/2 Pastor was Rev. John J. Capuano.	Rev. Capuano contacted Bishop Harrington, concerned about photos of young boys in Provost's room that he thought were inappropriate. (Telegram & Gazette January 25, 1996)
1981 Replacing Flanagan as bishop was Timothy Joseph Harrington (1983-1994)	1984	St. Anthony of Padua	Fitchburg	MA	2/2 Pastor was Rev. Rocco A DiLorenzo.	Parish had a school with 210 students.
1983		St. Vincent Hospital	Worcester	MA	chaplain	This assignment is per news reports. (The New Yorker June 7, 1993)
1984	1986					Provost is not indexed in the 1985 or 1986 Directories.
1986	1988	Holy Angels	Upton	MA	2/2 Pastor was Rev. John J. McKenna
1988	1992	St. Joseph's	Barre • In Jan. 1992 Provost was caught photographing a semi-nude 10 year old boy, The incident occured at a local swimming pool during a swim night Provost had organized for his parish youth group. Provost admitted to police that he used the photos he took of boys for sexual stimulation. (Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts) January 19, 1996) He was found to have had in his possession more than a hundred photos of nude boys. The photos dated back to 1977. He also had a collection of child pornography magazines. (The New Yorker June 7, 1993)	MA	1/1
1988	1992	St. Augustine's	Wheelright	MA	1/1	St. Augustine's was a mission of St. Joseph's. Provost was quietly removed from parish work in Jan. 1992, without a word to parishioners as to his whereabouts or reasons for removal. (The New Yorker June 7, 1993)
Jan.1992	July1992	St. Luke's Institute	Silver Springs	MD		Provost is indexed and listed as Absent on Leave in the 1993-1995 Directories. He does not appear in the Directories after 1995. Per news reports, he was sent to St. Luke's, which was a treatment center for clergy sex offenders. (The New Yorker June 7, 1993)
1992			Worcester • Provost was convicted in 1993 of having photographed a partially nude boy in Sept.1992. He received a ten year prison sentence, which was suspended with the condition that he stay away from young children. (Boston Globe July 21, 1994)	MA		Per news reports, Provost went to live with with his brother in Worcester after his time at St. Luke's. He worked as a gravedigger at St. John's Cemetery for seven years, then occasionally shoveled snow at parishes. (Salon March 7, 2002) The brother, Kenneth Provost, had been convicted of indecent sexual assault on a young boy. (The New Yorker June 7, 1993)

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1971-1995).

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 & 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.