Assignment Record– Rev. Eugene P. Sullivan

Summary of Case: Eugene P. Sullivan was ordained for the Boston archdiocese in 1968. He worked in parishes in Holbrook, Walpole, Roxbury, Dorchester, and Weymouth. An educator, he was Superintendent of archdiocesan schools in the 1970s and '80s. In 2005 an accusation emerged that Sullivan had sexually abused a 15-year-old boy in 1977. He was placed on leave. In 2009 the archdiocesan review board determined that the allegation was unsubstantiated and Sullivan was reinstated. He retired in 2013 to a Roslindale parish.

Ordained: May 29, 1968
Retired: July 1, 2013

   

Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

1968

Boston archbishop was Richard James Cushing (1944-1970), followed by Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1970-1983).

1971 St. Joseph's Holbrook MA 2/3, 3/3 Parish had a school with 310-280 boys and 310-272 girls.
1971 1976 St. Mary's Walpole MA

3/3, 4/4

In residence.

 
1972 1987 Archdiocesan Schools Boston  

Associate Superintendent and Assistant Director of Education (1972-1976); Superintendent 1976-1987
(The Pilot, October 11, 2013)

  

1976

Medeiros was succeeded by Bernard Francis Law (1984-2002).

1987 St. Patrick's

Boston (Roxbury)

• Accused in a 2004 lawsuit of having molested a 15 year old boy 1977. The accuser says the abuse happened in Sullivan's car on the way to a Catholic summer camp for children in New Hampshire (Camp Fatima). (Boston.com [Boston MA]
January 5, 2005)

MA

7/8, 5/7, 5/6, 6/7, 5/5, 6/6, 6/7

In residence.

Parish had a grade school with 524-369 students, and a high school until 1978 with 250-176 girls.

Sullivan was Superintendent of Boston archdiocesan schools at the time the abuse is said to have occurred. (Patriot Ledger
January 6, 2005)

1987 1997 St. Peter's Boston (Dorchester) MA 1/5, 1/4, 1/3 Parish had a school with 186-210 students.

1997

Law was replaced by Sean Patrick O'Malley, O.F.M. (2003-).

2005 St. Francis Xavier Weymouth MA 1/4, 1/3, 1/1, 1/2 Parish had a school with 172-471 students and a religious ed. program with 1,064 students.
2005 2009         Sullivan was placed on leave in January 2005 due to an accusation that he had molested a boy in 1977. (Weymouth News
January 12, 2005)
2009 2013 St. Francis Xavier Weymouth MA 1/3

Parish had a school with 471 students.

Sullivan was returned to ministry in January 2009 after the archdiocesan review board determined that the allegation was unsubstantiated. (The Pilot
January 16, 2009)

2013   Sacred Heart Roslindale MA

Senior Priest, Retired

In residence

  


Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1969-2014)

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 Sullivan'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 November 3, 2015.