Father Frances P. Melfe
Diocese of Albany
Ordained: 1954
Resigned: 1979
Dead: 2019
Assigned as follows:
- 1955-1958: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Gloversville, NY)
- 1959-1967: St. Joseph’s Church (Troy, NY)
- 1968-1969: St. Mary’s Church (Hudson, NY)
- 1969-1970: St. Patrick’s (Albany, NY)
- 1971- 1979: Immaculate Conception Church (Schenectady, NY)
- 1980-1981: Absent on Leave
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Father Frances P Melfe:
On November 30th, 2018 The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany released a list of names that contained clergy members who had been removed from ministry due to credible evidence of sexual misconduct with minors. One name on the Diocese of Albany list that had appeared for the first time in any abuse allegations was Fr. Frances P Melfe (also spelled in the Catholic Directory as “Francis”).
Melfe was involved with a single mother with four children while still a priest, and he fathered a son with her. They later married, then divorced.
In 2019, the adult children – male and female – spoke publicly about the abuse they suffered by Melfe, including sexual abuse, and that Bishops Hubbard and Broderick knew Melfe was living with them. The five siblings filed suit under the NY Child Victims Act.
Melfe was also accused, along with Bishop Hubbard and Fr. Albert DelVecchiho, in a 2019 suit of abuse of a girl in a Schenectady rectory in the late 1970s.
Melfe died in 2019.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in New York, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany now have legal options to recover damages due to a compensation fund created for victims. Contact us at 888-283-9922 or email us at [email protected].