Rev. Leo Thomas Riley, C.S.S.

Rev. Leo Thomas Riley, C.S.S.– Assignment History

Summary of Case: Leo T. Riley was ordained in 1954 for the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata (Stigmatines). For over then years he taught at Elm Bank, which was the Order's minor seminary in Wellesley, MA, then assisted at a Milford, MA parish. There appears to be a gap in his assignments 1968-1970, after which he was assigned to parishes in Waltham and then Lynn, Milford and, finally, Agawam, MA, where he was the sole priest. He died in 1995. Per Riley's obituary, "He was delegate in several provincial chapters. As a general councillor (1976-1979) he contributed much to insure the stability of the Thailand province."

In 2002 a man informed the Stigmatines that Riley had sexually abused him over a four-year period when the man was a student at Elm Bank and Riley was a teacher. While still a student the man reported the alleged abuse to the Provincial, Rev. Charles Egan. In 2002 Egan acknowledged having received the allegations, and said he did not remember sharing the information with anyone and did not record it.

Ordained: 1954
Died: February 22, 1995

Start	Stop	Assignments	Town/Allegations	State	Position	Notes
1954 Archdiocese of Boston Archbishop was Richard James Cushing (1944-1970).	1965	Elm Bank Juniorate	Wellesley • In 2002 the order received a complaint from a man who said he was sexually abused by Riley over a four-year period when he was a student at Elm Bank and Riley was a teacher. The former student said that he told the head of the Province at the time, Rev. Charles F. Egan, who had Riley trasferred. In 2002 Egan acknowledged that the boy had told him about the abuse, and said he did not remember sharing the information with anyone or recording it. The former students said he was also abused by two other Stigmatines.	MA	teacher, prefect of students	This was a Stigmatine Fathers' minor seminary, with 13-32 students.
1965 Diocese of Worcester Bishop was Bernard Joseph Flanagan (1959-1983).	1968	Sacred Heart	Milford	MA	3/4, 2/5, 2/4	Sacred Heart had a school with 153-146 boys and 177-178 girls.
1968	1970					Riley is indexed but not listed in the diocesan pages of the 1969 Directory as at Sacred Heart in Milford. In the 1970 Directory he is indexed at the address for the Stigmatine Fathers in Waltham MA, but he is not listed as there or at his next assignment in the diocesan pages.
1970 Archdiocese of Boston Archbishop was Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1970-1983).	1972	Sacred Heart	Waltham	MA	2/2, 3/3
1972	1976	Holy Family	Lynn	MA	5/7, 5/6, 4/5
1972	1976	St. Francis of Assisi	West Lynn	MA		This was a mission of Holy Family in Lynn.
1976	1979	Stigmatine American Province/Holy Spouses Province	Waltham	MA	general councillor	Per Riley's obituary he "was much involved also in the provincial activities. He was delegate in several provincial chapters. As a general councillor (1976-1979) he contributed much to insure the stability of the Thailand province."
1976 Diocese of Worcester Bishop was Bernard Joseph Flanagan (1959-1983), followed by Timiothy Joseph Harrington (1983-1994).	1989	Sacred Heart	Milford	MA	3/4, 3/3, 2/2
1989 Diocese of Springfield Bishop was John Aloysius Marshall (1991-1994).	1995	St. Anthony's	Agawam	MA	1/1	Riley died February 22, 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.

Source: Official Catholic Directory (Kenedy & Sons, 1955-1996).

• Leo Thomas Riley, Confratelli Stimmatini, February 22, 1995
• Abuse Alleged at Wellesley Seminary, by Matt Carroll, The Boston Globe, August 10, 2002
• The missing names from Cardinal O'Malley's list of accused clerics, The Boston Globe, November 20, 2011

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 Riley's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with the allegations against him, as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegations 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 July 5, 2018 .