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/)