Fr. Harold Johnson
Diocese of Charlotte
Ordained: 1949
Died: 2009
Assigned as Follows:
- 05/16/49 – 02/17/57: Sacred Heart Parish (Weymouth, MA)
- 09/08/55 – 02/17/57: Director of Vocations Deanery (Quincy, MA)
- 02/18/57 – 10/14/59: Lend Lease Diocese of North Carolina
- 10/15/59 – 09/19/67: Assistant St Kevin Parish (Dorchester, MA)
- 09/20/67 – 04/09/73: Assistant St Joseph (Amesbury, MA)
- 04/10/73 – 12/10/73: Administrator Our Lady of Lourdes Parish (Jamaica Plain, MA)
- 12/11/73 – 09/30/80: Pastor Our Lady of Lourdes Parish (Jamaica Plain, MA)
- 10/01/80 – 10/31/86: Pastor St Rose of Lima Parish (Rochester, MA)
- 11/01/86 – 06/07/92: Parochial Vicar St James Parish (Medford, MA)
- 06/08/92 – 01/31/93: Health Leave
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Father Harold Johnson:
Father Harold Johnson was ordained a priest in 1949. He worked for most of his career in Boston, but spent three years working at St. Patrick’s in the Diocese of Charlotte. From February 1957 to October 1959, Father Johnson worked at St. Patrick in Charlotte, which was under the jurisdiction of the Raleigh Diocese. The Charlotte Diocese wasn’t formed until 1972.
According to media reports, Father Johnson’s name was included on a 2011 list released by the Boston Archdiocese of clergy credibly accused of child sexual abuse. His name is currently NOT on the Charlotte or Raleigh lists despite the public documents that show he likely abused children before and after his time in Charlotte. There is no known documentation that the priest abused minors during his assignment in Charlotte.
In 1992, a man alleged in a letter to Cardinal Bernard Law of the Boston Archdiocese that he was abused by Father Johnson. That abuse would have been in the 1950s during Johnson’s time at Sacred Heart Parish in Weymouth, Massachusetts. The priest was sent to St. Luke Institute in Maryland for treatment, where he reportedly admitted to more abuse.
The Diocese of Charlotte has said its list could be amended if new information came to light.
Full statement from the Charlotte Diocese:
“The late Harold J. Johnson was a priest of the Boston Archdiocese who appears to have served in the city of Charlotte under the supervision of the Diocese of Raleigh in the late 1950s – 15 years before the Diocese of Charlotte was formed. The Diocese of Charlotte has no records on Johnson. We appreciate Terry McKiernan from Bishop Accountability for bringing Johnson’s name to light and are in the process of gathering information from Raleigh and Boston to determine whether he should be referenced on our website.”
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Charlotte in North Carolina. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in North Carolina, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Charlotte now have legal options, but filing deadlines will apply so do not delay in reaching out to us. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in North Carolina and nationwide. We can help.
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