SNAP of Tennessee

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests - Tennessee

James W. Murphy

Tennessee priest implicated with Janssen! Four survivors/victims give their stories in documents from trial in Iowa.  James W. Murphy, who has served across the entire state of Tennessee, is a retired priest of the Memphis Diocese. 

Murphy is pictured on the left with William Janssen (Murphy in black on the left; Janssen on the right).  A former priest, Janssen has been ordered to pay $1.86 million in case settled in Iowa on Monday, May 10, 2005.Click here for the story.  Another link to this story may be found here

The staff of BishopAccountability.org has a complete service history and complete documentation from the Iowa trial.  Click here for the information.

If you are overwhelmed with all the information from the Iowa trial,click here for bits and pieces from the documents from the Iowa trial that pertain specifically to Murphy.  Read the account provided to SNAP of Tennessee by one of the victims of Murphy and Janssen, Mike Hitch.   

The picture on the left was taken during the 1967 trip to Florida mentioned in documents found in their entirety at this link on BishopAccountability.org.  Two teen boys pictures were cropped from this picture taken in the Smoky Mountains.  Note that Murphy was stationed at Our Lady of Fatima in Alcoa during this time frame.  See full information at www.bishop-accountability.com 

James W. Murphy: 
  • Did you know that there was a priest sex abuse case in Iowa in which this Tennessee priest was named in three depositions? 
  • Did you know that the diocese of Memphis has had communications with the diocese of Davenport, Iowa, regarding this case a year ago? 
  • Did you know that this priest started out as a priest of the diocese of Nashville and ended up as a priest of the diocese of Memphis?
  • Did you know that this priest was assigned for two years in East Tennessee in Alcoa and that this city is part of the diocese of Knoxville? 
  • Did you know that SNAP of Tennessee met with Bishop Joseph Kurtz of the diocese of Knoxville on May 4, 2005, and asked him to cross-reference with Nashville and Memphis to find out about James W. Murphy?  Did you know that SNAP asked Bishop Kurtz to tell the people of the diocese of Knoxville that a priest with allegations had been in his diocese?  Did you know that he told us he would only "do what is required by the norms"? (Apparently, then  it is not "required" to tell the people of Tennessee about sex-offending priests who have been in thier parishes.)
  • Did you know that there has been communication between the diocese of Memphis and the victims in Iowa for over a year? 
  • Did you know that one of the victims came to Tennessee in November and spoke out in Knoxville, Nashville, and Memphis asking that the people of Tennessee be told about this sex-offending priest? 
  • Did you know that the Bishop J. Terry Steib has been in receipt of information concerning Murphy as have numerous officials of the diocese and the diocesean review board?  Did you know that this communication equals about 30 pages of information?
  • Did you know that the NONE of the three Tennessee dioceses has acted on this information to tell the people in their churches of the people in their communities?
Click here for more information on James W. Murphy.  You will find all the specifics that SNAP knows and all the specifics that Bishop Steib (Memphis), Bishop Kurtz (Knoxville) and Father Choby (Nashville) apparently want to hide from you as another secret sex-offending priest.
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