Bernard Steiner
On April 15, 2016, Fr. Bernard Steiner was named in a lawsuit filed by sexual abuse survivor Doe 172. Fr. Steiner sexually abused Doe 172 at the Church of St. Paul in Comfrey, MN, in the 1970s. Doe 172’s lawsuit was brought under the Minnesota Child Victims Act, a law passed in 2013 allowing survivors of child sexual abuse to file cases against their perpetrators and any institution that may have covered up the abuse.
Fr. Bernard Steiner was ordained in February 1961 in the Diocese of New Ulm and worked in several parishes throughout Southern and West-Central Minnesota during his clerical career.
According to the Diocese of New Ulm, Fr. Bernard Steiner worked at the following locations:
- 1961-1962: Associate, St. Raphael, Springfield, MN and assistance at St. Thomas, Sanborn
- 1962-1963: Associate, Holy Redeemer, Marshall
- 1963-1965: Associate, Holy Rosary, North Mankato
- 1965-1969: Pastor, St. James, Dawson and the mission of St. Isidore, Clarkfield
- 1969-1970: Pastor, St. Gregory, Lafayette and St. Francis de Sales, Winthrop
- 1970-1971: Pastor, St. John, Appleton and the mission of St. Joseph, Holloway
- 1971-1977: Pastor, St. Paul, Comfrey
- 1977-1981: Pastor, St. Michael, Madison
- 1978-1981: Pastor, St. James, Dawson
- 1981-1982: Administrator, St. Andrew, Granite Falls
- 1982-1987: Pastor, St. Clara, Clara City
- 1982-1987: Administrator, Sacred Heart, Raymond
- 1987-1993: Co-pastor, Benson Area Parishes (Benson, Clontarf, Danvers, and DeGraff)
- 1987-1993: Pastor, Sacred Heart, Murdock
- 1993-1998: Pastor and/or sacramental minister, St. Mathias, Wanda, St. Thomas, Sanborn, and St. Joseph, Lamberton
- 1998-2005: Pastor and/or sacramental minister, St. Brendan, Green Isle, St. John-Assumption, Faxon Township, St. Thomas, Jessenland, and St. Joseph, Henderson
Fr. Bernard Steiner retired from assigned ministry in 2005.
(Source: https://protectandheal-dnu.org/pledge-to-heal/disclosures/fr-bernard-steiner/)