Deacon James Rush
Ordained: 1979
Died: January 10, 2026
Assigned as follows:
- 1980-1981: St. Francis of Rome (Bronx, NY)
- 1982: Hospital Apostolate
- 1983-1990: Hospital Apostolate, St. Barnabas Hospital (Bronx, NY)
- 1986-1987: St. Michael's (Bronx, NY)
- 1988-1990: St. Frances of Rome (New York, NY)
- 1991: (Hendersonville, NC)
- 1992: (Bronx, NY)
- 1993-1994: St. Barnabas Hospital (Bronx, NY)
- 1995-1996: St. Theresa The Little Flower Church (Summerville, SC)
- 1997-1998: Unassigned (Charleston, SC)
- 1999: St. Thomas the Apostle Church (Charleston, SC)
- 2000-2001: (Charleston, SC)
- 2002: St. Francis Xavier (Bronx, NY)
- 2004-2006: St. Richard (Manheim, PA)
- 2007-2010: (Harrisburg, PA)
- 2011-2015: St. Bernadette (Duncannon, PA); Our Lady of Good Counsel (Marysville, PA)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Deacon James C Rush:
Deacon James Rush became a Deacon in the Archdiocese of New York in 1979. In 2015, two women reported allegations of grooming and sexually abusing at least one 14-year-old girl while on an assignment in the Diocese of Harrisburg. As a result of the allegation, he retired from the Diocese.
In 2016, a Pennsylvania social worker corroborated the prior allegations in her report to the Children and Youth Services of Pennsylvania. According to media reports, Dn. Rush took the girl to a hockey game and held her hand. He told her he only had eyes for her and that she was his "girlfriend," and kissed her. Rush told the girl not to tell her mother because her mother would get the wrong impression. He was then suspended by the Archdiocese of New York but continued assisting at an unknown parish in the Diocese of Harrisburg.
In August 2018, Rush's name appeared on the Diocese of Harrisburg's "List of Clergy & Seminarians Accused of Sexual Abuse of a Child," under the subsection "cases involving allegations of inappropriate behavior (e.g. kissing)." In 2018, Rush was also included in the PA Grand Jury Report.
In April 2019, Rush's name appeared on the Archdiocese of New York's list of clergy credibly accused of sex abuse of minors. Claims against him are eligible to be settled through the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP). The list noted that he was "accused of inappropriate sexual conduct following assignments in the Diocese of Harrisburg, in Pennsylvania" and that he "was determined by the Diocese of Harrisburg not to have sexually abused a minor," that his behavior was "grooming," not abuse.
Rush died in 2016.
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