UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Bernard “Fr. Barney” Bissonnette was ordained in 1958 for the Diocese of Norwich CT. It wasn’t long before he was first transferred out of a parish due to allegations of child sexual abuse, in 1959. He cycled through four parishes in the Norwich diocese, removed each time due to allegations, then was sent in 1963 to to the Servants of the Paraclete’s Via Coeli in Jemez Springs NM for treatment. His Norwich bishop would not allow him to return to the diocese due to his “notoriety,” but continued to support him financially. Bissonnette went to the Duluth MN diocese for a short time 1965-66, spending time at parish and in treatment at another Servants of the Paraclete facility. He returned to NM, where he worked in parishes until 1992; he also was chaplain of a correctional facility for boys until his removal in…