This page concerns Hugh Rafferty, born March 21, 1933, a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence who died January 11, 2001. The Diocese of Providence's record gives his ordination date as June 7, 1964; the Attorney General's Appendix A records it as June 4, 1964 — both are stated here as each source publishes them. This page does not refer to any other person of the same or similar name. Assignments are reproduced from the Diocese’s records and the Attorney General’s report — see how this database is verified.
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Father Hugh Rafferty’s Rhode Island assignments were at St. Matthew Church in Cranston and St. Leo the Great in Pawtucket during the mid-1960s; the Diocese’s record then shows seven years of service across dioceses in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey, and in Ireland. He is named on the Diocese of Providence’s published List of Credibly Accused Clergy and is among the 72 clergy included in the Rhode Island Attorney General’s 2026 report on the Diocese (Appendix A, p. 2).
What happened to Father Rafferty?
According to the Diocese of Providence’s published list, Father Rafferty was removed from ministry on November 1, 1974 and died on January 11, 2001. The Attorney General’s Appendix A header does not print a removal date; it records instead that Rafferty was laicized on December 23, 1976, and its summary states that he “successfully sought laicization in 1976” (Appendix A, p. 292).
According to the Attorney General’s report, Rafferty requested laicization in 1976, citing his stated inability to adhere to the vow of celibacy. In a September 1976 letter quoted in the report, Bishop Daniel Reilly of Norwich characterized Rafferty’s “inappropriate interactions with women” as a “deep-seated psychological problem” that appeared about a year into his ministry; Pope Paul VI granted the laicization request in 1976 (Appendix A, p. 292; Appendix A, p. 293). The main report’s narrative separately states he “had been laicized by Pope Paul VI in 1977” — a variance within the Attorney General’s own materials (Report, p. 156).
The report records that in November 1995 a woman reported to the Diocese that Father Rafferty had abused her in the mid-1960s, when she was approximately 13 years old. In the report’s words, “The Diocese did very little to respond to these allegations”: it does not appear that the Diocese attempted to contact Rafferty or law enforcement at the time. The same woman reported her abuse to the Diocese again in 2016, and OEC Director Kevin O’Brien notified the Rhode Island State Police by letter on November 30, 2016 — by which time Rafferty had been dead for 15 years (Appendix A, p. 293).
Where Father Rafferty served: assignment history
The Diocese of Providence publishes the following assignment record:
| Assignment | Location | Years |
|---|---|---|
| St. Matthew Church | Cranston, RI | 1964–1966 |
| St. Leo the Great Church | Pawtucket, RI | 1966–1967 |
| “served in various places – Dioceses of Brooklyn, Boston, Norwich, Paterson, Worcester & in Ireland” | — | 1967–1974 |
Source: Diocese of Providence, individual clergy record, verified July 7, 2026. The third entry is reproduced as published; the live record prints it as a single line prefixed “1967-1974:”. The Attorney General’s Appendix A labels its list a “Partial Assignment History”: it omits the 1967–1974 line, adds a 1976 laicization line, and its header records the laicization date as December 23, 1976 (Appendix A, p. 292).
What the official lists say
The Diocese of Providence includes Hugh Rafferty on its List of Credibly Accused Clergy – Deceased, with the status: “Removed from Ministry 11/1/1974; Died 1/11/2001”. The Rhode Island Attorney General’s report (March 4, 2026) includes Father Hugh Rafferty among the 72 clergy “determined by the Attorney General to have been credibly accused of child sexual misconduct in the Diocese of Providence” (Appendix A, p. 2). He is one of the 75 names on the Diocese of Providence credibly accused list, explained.
The report’s summary of the allegations states: “In the 1960s, while assigned to St. Matthew Church in Cranston, Father Hugh Rafferty reportedly sexually abused a 13-year-old female parishioner. The woman first reported her abuse to the Diocese in 1995, while Rafferty was still living, but there is no indication that the Diocese confronted Father Rafferty about the complaint or referred it to law enforcement at that time” (Appendix A, p. 292). The report also notes: “The Diocese of Rockville Centre also includes Rafferty on its List of Accused Clergy” (Appendix A, p. 293).
As the Attorney General’s report itself states, unless otherwise noted, the details in its Appendix A are allegations — not facts proven in a courtroom or admitted by the accused — and the individuals named are generally entitled to a presumption of innocence. Father Rafferty was never criminally charged; the report records that the allegation was not referred to law enforcement until November 2016, by which time Rafferty had been dead for 15 years (Appendix A, p. 2; Appendix A, p. 293; Report, p. 156).
If you were at St. Matthew’s or St. Leo’s — or at a parish where he later served: the Rhode Island revival window
Rhode Island’s revival window allows civil claims for childhood sexual abuse regardless of how long ago it occurred — including the 1960s — until June 30, 2028. His death in 2001 does not affect the right to bring a claim; claims are brought against the responsible institution. If your experience relates to his years outside Rhode Island, a different state’s law may apply — that is a question a Rhode Island attorney can help you sort out:
- How Rhode Island’s revival window works
- Can you still sue if the priest has died?
- The June 30, 2028 deadline
- Who can file a claim
Common questions
Is Hugh Rafferty on the credibly accused list? Yes. He appears on the Diocese of Providence’s published List of Credibly Accused Clergy (Deceased) and in Appendix A of the Rhode Island Attorney General’s 2026 report.
When was he removed from ministry? The Diocese’s published status is “Removed from Ministry 11/1/1974”. The Attorney General’s Appendix A separately records that he was laicized on December 23, 1976 (Appendix A, p. 292).
Was Father Rafferty ever criminally charged? No. The Attorney General’s report records that the 1995 complaint was not referred to law enforcement at the time, and that the allegation reached the Rhode Island State Police only in November 2016 — 15 years after Rafferty’s death (Appendix A, p. 293; Report, p. 156).
He died in 2001 — can a claim still be filed? Yes. Under the revival window, claims may be filed until June 30, 2028, regardless of when the abuse occurred or whether the priest is living.
Confidential help
If something happened to you at one of these parishes, you can speak with a Rhode Island attorney confidentially, at no cost and with no obligation. You don’t need records or proof in hand to have a conversation, and you don’t need to have told anyone before. Contact Marin & Murphy Law Firm confidentially.
Other credibly accused clergy who served at these parishes
The official assignment records above overlap with those of other clergy on the official lists — the same institution of record, at any period, which is not an assertion that they served there at the same time:
- Father Charles Dolan — also served at St. Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket
- Father Edward Kelley — also served at St. Matthew Church, Cranston
- Father Philip Magaldi — also served at St. Matthew Church, Cranston
- Father Roland Lepire — also served at St. Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket
Related town records: see all verified Cranston records and Pawtucket records.
Reporting resources
Anyone with information about abuse may contact the Rhode Island State Police Special Victims Unit at (401) 764-0142, the RI Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-RI-CHILD (1-800-742-4453), or the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office at (401) 274-4400.
Questions About These Records? Talk With Marin & Murphy — Confidentially
If the assignment history on this page overlaps with your own — a parish, a school, a set of years — and you want to understand what it may mean for a claim under Rhode Island’s revival window, our attorneys can review it with you. Marin & Murphy Law Firm is a Rhode Island law firm representing survivors of childhood sexual abuse under the revival window (July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2028). A conversation is free and confidential, nothing is filed and no one is contacted unless you decide, and there is no fee unless you recover. Call (401) 269-3381, or start with our Rhode Island clergy abuse lawyer page.
Corrections: we maintain a corrections policy for these pages, with a named contact and a 48-hour review commitment. If you believe anything on this page is inaccurate, please tell us.
Verification: every fact on this page is checked against both official sources — the Diocese of Providence’s published records and the Rhode Island Attorney General’s report — with source conflicts stated, not silently resolved. See how this database is verified.
Sources: Diocese of Providence, List of Credibly Accused Clergy and individual clergy record (verified July 7, 2026); Rhode Island Attorney General, Report on the Diocese of Providence and Appendix A (March 4, 2026). Where the two official sources differ (ordination date — June 7, 1964 vs. June 4, 1964; the Diocese’s 1974 removal status alongside the Attorney General’s December 23, 1976 laicization record; and differing assignment-history entries), both are stated with attribution. Information current as of July 7, 2026; official lists are working documents and may change.