Rev. John J. Wood, s.j.-Assignment Record

Assignment Record – Rev. John J. "Jack" Wood, s.j.

Summary of Case: John J. "Jack" Wood was ordained for the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus in 1950. He had been working in Alaskan villages as a seminarian since 1945. In 1962 he transferred to Seattle University to teach, returning in 1965 to Alaska for another year. Next he was assigned to a Portland OR parish, back to Seattle U., on to a Spokane convent and then to a Beaverton OR nursing home as chaplain. Wood spent the following 11 years at a Portland OR retirement facility and another nearly 10 years at a Care Center in Spokane. He died in Spokane March 11, 1997. Wood's name was included on the Fairbanks diocese's list in 2009 of "individuals against whom one person has brought a complaint of sexual abuse". The abuse is said to have occurred in Chevak AK, where he was assigned in the 1950s.

Ordained: June 17, 1950
Died: March 11, 1997

Start	Stop	Parish/Assignment	Town/Accusations	State/Country	Position	Notes
1945 Vicariate Apostolic of Alaska bishop was Walter James Fitzgerald, s.j. (1945-1947).	1947	Holy Cross Mission	Holy Cross	AK	seminarian
1947 San Francisco archbishop was John Joseph Mitty (1935-1961).	1951	Alma College	Los Gatos	CA	seminarian, student priest	Wood was ordained March 11, 1997.
1951 Seattle archbishop was Thomas Arthur Connolly (150-1975).	1952	Manresa Hall	Port Townsend	WA	Jesuit tertianship
1952 Vicariate Apostolic of Alaska bishop was Francis Doyle Gleeson, s.j. (1948-1968).	1954	Little Flower of Jesus	Hooper Bay	AK	2/2 Wood was also chaplain for the Alaska National Guard and auxiliary military chaplain to Air Force personnel at Cape Romanzof.
1952	1954		Scammon Bay, Chevak, Kashunak, Keyaluvik	AK		These were stations of Little Flower of Jesus in Hooper Bay.
1954	1959	Sacred Heart	Chevak • The Fairbanks diocese included Wood's name on its 2007 list of "individuals against whom one person has brought a complaint of sexual abuse". The abuse was said to have occurred in Chevak.	AK	1/1
1954	1959		Newtok	AK		This was a station of Sacred Heart in Chevak.
1959	1962	Immaculate Conception	Bethel	AK	2/2
1959	1962		Aniak, Kalskag, Nyac, McGrath	AK		These were stations of Immaculate Conception in Bethel.
1962 Seattle archdiocese	1965	Seattle University	Seattle	WA	taught evening classes
1965 The Fairbanks diocese was established Aug. 8, 1962.	1966	Immaculate Conception	Bethel	AK	2/2
1965	1966		Aniak, Goodness Bay, Kalskag, Nyac, McGrath, Medfra, Platinum			These were stations of Immaculate Conception in Bethel.
1966 Portland in Oregon archbishop was Robert Joseph Dwyer (1966-1974).	1971	St. Ignatius	Portland	OR		St. Ignatius had a school with 370-300 students. Wood is indexed as at St. Ignatius, but he is not listed as there in the Portland pages of the Directory.
1971 Seattle archdiocese	1974	Seattle University	Seattle	WA
1974 Spokane bishop was Bernard Joseph Topel (1955-1978).	1976	Holy Names Sisters	Spokane	WA	chaplain
1976 Portland in Oregon archbishop was Cornelius Michael Power (1974-1986).	1977	Maryville Nursing Home	Beaverton	OR	chaplain
1977	1988	Mount St. Joseph Residence and Care Center	Portland	OR		Wood is not indexed beyond the 1978 Directory. His whereabouts during after 1977 are per Americana Catholica, by Louis L. Renner, s.j.
1988 Spokane bishop was Lawrence Harold Welsh (1978-1990), followed by William Stephen Skylstad (1990-2010).	1997	St. Joseph Care Center	Spokane	WA		Wood died March 11, 1997.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1953-1978)

• Alaskana Catholica: A History of the Catholic Church in Alaska, by Louis L. Renner, s.j.
• Settlement Talks Continue in Clergy Sex Abuse Cases, By Mary Beth Smetzer, Fairbanks News-Miner, November 3, 2007
• 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
• Excerpt from Bankruptcy Reorganization Documents for Fairbanks Diocese, Jan. 25, 2010, p. 2

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 Wood'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 Aug. 8, 2014.