Fr. Leonard Thomas Walsh – Archdiocese of Newark

| Nov 26, 2019 | Abuser Profiles, Catholic Church

Father Leonard Thomas Walsh

Archdiocese of Newark (Franciscan)

Ordained: 1926

Died: 1954

Assigned as follows:

  • 1927-1927      St. Bonaventure’s Monastery and Ecclesiastical Seminary (Allegany, NY)
  • 1927-1934      St. Bonaventure’s Franciscan Monastery (Paterson, NJ)
  • 1935                St. Joseph’s (East Rutherford, NJ)
  • 1935-1944      Commissariat of the Holy Land (Franciscan Monastery); Mt. St. Sepulchre (Washington, DC)
  • 1945-1947      St. Francis of Assisi (New York, NY); St. Basil’s Seminary (Stamford, CT)
  • 1948                St. Bonaventure College and Seminary (Allegany, NY)
  • 1948-1950      St. Anthony’s Monastery (Franciscan Fathers) (Butler, NJ)
  • 1950-1954      St. Francis’ Friary (Brookline, MA)

Summary of Abuse Allegations against Leonard Thomas Walsh:

Father Leonard Thomas Walsh was ordained a Franciscan Friars priest in 1926, who served in the Archdiocese of Newark. He also served in multiple parishes throughout his career in New York, Washington, DC, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

According to media reports, in April 2012, the Franciscans settled at least one claim of child sexual abuse against him for an unspecified six-figure sum. Father Walsh was accused of sexually abusing a 9-year-old Massachusetts boy for four months at St. Francis Friary in Brookline, MA in 1953. The alleged victim said he went to confession at the friary because he wanted to get out of playing piano on Saturdays. He said the abuse began on the second visit, and continued until he got the nerve to stop going.

In October 2021, the Holy Name Province published a list of Franciscan friars with substantiated child sexual abuse and misconduct claims following a review of its files by an advisory firm. Leonard Thomas Walsh was one of 23 the friars named.

He died in 1954.

Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey.  If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused in the Archdiocese of Newark, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Archdiocese of Newark 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 New Jersey and nationwide. We can help.

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