Scalabrinians / Pious Society of the Missionaries of St Charles – CS

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Terry McKiernan February 27, 2021

9 Accused in This Religious Order

Fr. Settimo Basso

Order: CS
Ordained: 1941
Status: Settled

Diocese: Archdiocese of Boston MA

Arrived in the U.S. from Italy in 1947. Worked in Boston for 23 years before transferring to RI. Later went to Canada before returning to RI. Died in Italy in 1999. Accused in a 2005 civil suit of abuse of a boy at St. Lazarus Parish, East Boston between1960-1961. The suit involved multiple plaintiffs and named multiple priests as defendants. Attorney Durso said in 7/11 that almost all claims were settled. Omitted from 2011 Boston AD database because he was an Order priest.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Fr. John Bocciarelli

Order: CS
Ordained: 1945
Status: Accused

Died: 4/19/1998
Diocese: Archdiocese of Boston MA

The Archdiocese received a report in 1997 that Bocciarelli performed oral sex on a 9- or 10-year-old boy in the late 1960s. The same plaintiff also alleged abuse by Fr. Joseph Fugulo in the same time period. Only the first name and parish were noted in Boston documents; identity of the priest was confirmed through the Official Catholic Directory. Bocciarelli eturned to Italy in 1995 or 1997, per his obituary. He died 4/19/1998 in Arco, Italy. Omitted from the 2011 Boston AD database, possibly because he was an Order priest.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Fr. Mario Bordignon

Order: CS
Ordained: 1950
Status: Accused

Died: 12/22/1992
Diocese: Diocese of Providence RI

From Italy where he was ordained in 1950. Arrived in the U.S. in 5/1951, assigned to a parish in New Haven CT, then to Bristol RI 1959-1964. In 1964 Bordignon was sent as a missionary to CA. He returned to East Coast, in NYC, in around 1966 and then in 1966 to New Haven CT, per the Official Catholic Directory. From 1988 until his death in 1992 Bordignon was back in RI, at a Providence parish. He was named publicly as accused in the 3/4/2026 RI Attorney General's Report. In 2/2013 a woman reported to the Diocese that in 1964, when she was age 15, Bordignon sexually assaulted her on five or six occasions. He was a family friend. She said the abuse took place during swimming outings in the Palmer River in Barrington. The Diocese informed the Scalabrinians whose lawyer responded that any civil claims were time-barred. The Order did not reach out to the alleged victim; the lawyer wrote to the Diocese that the claims were merely allegations from 49 years ago and that Provincial "will himself decide on a pastoral basis whether to speak with [the complainant]."

Assignments:

RI A.G. Report 03.04.26

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Fr. Andrew Brizzolara

Order: CS
Ordained: 1976
Status: Settled

Diocese: Archdiocese of Boston MA

Brizzolara resigned from his parish assignment in New Haven, CT in 1/2004 after allegations surfaced that he had molested a child in early 1980s when he was working in the Boston archdiocese. He was ordered to leave CT and to reside with members of his order in NY state. Omitted from the 2011 Boston AD database because he was an order priest. Included on Attorney Garabedian's list 3/28/2016 of accused clerics named in civil claims resulting in settlements or arbitration awards, related to a 1/2016 settlement with the Scalabrinians.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Fr. Guido Caverzan

Order: CS
Ordained: 1950
Status: Sued

Died: 9/28/1994
Diocese: Archdiocese of Boston MA

Accused in a 7/18/1977 letter to the Order of sexually abusing three boys. A 10/11/1994 memo refers to two other allegations. In 1/2003 a man filed a lawsuit claiming abuse in the mid-1970s. Those documents were publicly filed later in 2003, and on 2/26/2004 Caverzan was accused in a lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy, age 10-12, in the NY archdiocese, beginning in 1966. Removed from his parish in Venice FL. Died 9/28/1994 in at the Order's headquarters in Caracas. Omitted from 2011 Boston AD database because he was an order priest.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Fr. Dorino DeLazzer

Order: CS
Ordained: 1959
Status: Accused

Died: 5/12/2021
Diocese: Archdiocese of Denver CO

Ordained in NY City in 1959 for the Scalabrinians. Assigned in the Diocese of Buffalo until 1967, then in the Archdiocese of NY. Does not appear in the Official Catholic Directory for the years 1973-1976. Resurfaces in 1977, assigned to a parish in Denver, still as a Scalabrinian. Left the order and was incardinated into the Archdiocese of Denver in 1978. Retired from active ministry in 2005. Placed on leave by the Denver archdiocese without privileges in 5/2010 after a woman alleged sexual misconduct by him in the early 1970s, when she was a minor living in another state. DeLazzer denied the allegations. He died 5/12/2021, age 86.

Sources:

Fr. Joseph Fugolo

Order: CS
Ordained: 1967
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Boston MA

Accused in 1997 of taking nude photographs in the late 1960s of a boy who was, at other times, being abused by Fr. John Bocciarelli, pastor of the same church. Fugolo denied the allegations. As of 4/2008 he was administrator of St. Charles Seminary/Residence in Dongan Hills, NY. He resigned as superior of the Province in 2009 and was in Montreal in 2010. Omitted from the 2011 Boston AD database. Per the parish website in 10/2015, he was pastor of Madre die Cristiani in Lasalle, Quebec, Canada.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Fr. Paul H. Pornbacher

Order: CS
Ordained: 1960
Status: Convicted

Diocese: Archdiocese of Chicago IL

Attended St. Charles Seminary in Dongan Hills, NY. Appears to have spent most of his priesthood in Canada. Per the Official Catholic Directory, Pornbacher was assigned to Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago 1969-1970. Reportedly in 1997, Pornbacher sexually abused an 11-year-old boy in 1975, in the Diocese of Nelson in Canada. His victim came forward in 1991; Pornbacher was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in jail. The victim sued and was awarded a settlement in 1997. The Diocese appealed. Included on the Archdiocese of Chicago's list of credibly accused.

Sources:

Fr. Louis Toma

Order: CS
Ordained: 1908
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Boston MA

Several women told the archdiocese in 2006 that Toma and another priest had abused many young girls during his 50 years as pastor of St. Lazarus in Boston. A representative of the archdiocese said the "women's stories were individually convincing, collectively consistent, and showed a pattern of recognizable abuse." Toma died in 1961. Omitted from 2011 Boston AD database.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources: