Diocese: Diocese of Brooklyn
Summary of Assignments:
- 1960-1961: Holy Family; Brooklyn, NY
- 1962-1970: St. Mary Star of the Sea; Brooklyn, NY
- 1971-1975: St. Michael-St. Edward; Brooklyn, NY
- 1976-1978: St. Boniface; Brooklyn, NY
- 1979-1997: St. Finbar; Brooklyn, NY
Notes:
Allegations of Failla’s sexually abusing minors date back to the mid-1970s, when the nuns were assigned to St. Michael-St. Edward Church. In 1993, the nuns received a complaint from a parishioner, who was the mother of two boys. The nuns also received a complaint from a man who had lived in the rectory with the priests, including Failla, as a boy after his mother died. The man alleged that Failla sexually abused him on multiple occasions in the mid-1970s. In 1996, the nuns notified diocese officials.
The Diocese ordered Failla to stop working as a priest and to undergo counseling. He left the parish in 1997, citing personal health reasons.
Failla surfaced in Florida in December 2000, where he began working as a priest at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in the Diocese of Palm Beach. A month later, when church officials requested his credentials and proper paperwork, Failla reportedly refused to provide them and left St. Joan of Arc. The Diocese of Brooklyn had previously notified the Diocese of Palm Beach of his suspension from ministry.
In an October 2003 lawsuit, Failla and several other priests were accused of the sexual abuse of minors.
Failla died on March 31, 2018.
Sources: Daily News 07.01.97; NY Times 03.15.02; Palm Beach Post 03.19.02; Sun-Sentinel 03.22.02; Sun-Sentinel 04.24.02; USA Today 11.11.02; Newsday 10.02.03; Palm Beach Post 02.28.04; Everhere.com Obituary; http://bishop-accountability.org/