Charles Gormly
Father Gormly was born on September 21, 1910, and ordained in 1935 in the Diocese of Cheyenne (Wyoming). Father Gormly worked in the Diocese of Cheyenne until 1944. He worked in Diocese of Duluth parishes in Duluth, Minnesota, and Brainerd, Minnesota, from 1960-1961. Prior to working in the Diocese of Duluth, Father Gormly worked in the Diocese of Crookston and spent time at Via Coeli, a Servants of the Paraclete facility in Jemez Springs, New Mexico.
Bishop Francis Schenk, who oversaw Father Gormly first as bishop of the Diocese of Crookston and then as bishop of the Diocese of Duluth, noted in June of 1961 that Father Gormly had a “sex problem which prompts him to molest small girls” that was apparent when he was in the Diocese of Crookston.
In 2014, the Diocese of Duluth included Father Gormly on its official list of clergy members who have been credibly accused of child sexual abuse. In May 2015, a woman filed a lawsuit against the Diocese of Duluth alleging she was sexually abused as a minor by Father Gormly in approximately 1960-61 at St. Francis of Assisi in Brainerd, Minnesota.
According to the Diocese of Duluth list and our research, Father Gormly served in the following parishes and locations:
- 1935: Ordained, Diocese of Cheyenne, WY
- 1938: Asst. Pastor, Our Lady of Sorrows, Rock Springs, WY
- 1939-1941: Pastor, St. Paul Parish, Pine Bluffs, WY
- 1942: Pastor, Holy Rosary, Lander, WY
- 1943-1944: Asst. Pastor, St Lawrence/Laurence O’Toole, Laramie, WY
- 1945-1946: Unknown
- 1947-1960: Listed as Absent on Leave by Diocese of Cheyenne, WY
- 1960: Lived in St. James Rectory, Duluth, MN
- 1960: Asst. pastor, St. Lawrence Church, Duluth; St. Raphael, Duluth, MN
- 1960-1961: Asst. pastor, St. Francis of Assisi, Brainerd, MN
- 1962-1967: Listed as Absent on Leave by Diocese of Cheyenne, WY
- 1968: Deceased
Efforts to unseal the secret documents regarding clergy sexual abuse in the Diocese of Duluth and the Diocese of Crookston began with the first lawsuits filed under the Child Victims Act in June 2013. Since then, survivors have taken numerous actions to make the files public.
In October 2015, a jury verdict was handed down against the Diocese of Duluth in a child sexual abuse case in Ramsey County involving Fr. James Vincent Fitzgerald. Several documents regarding Father Gormly were introduced into evidence at the trial.
More information on the Diocese of Duluth bankruptcy can be found at:www.andersonadvocates.com/Bankruptcy