Rev. James N. Jablonowski

Summary of Case: In May 200  two people separately came forward to the archdiocese with allegations that they had been sexually abused as minors by Jablonowski in the 1970s. The complaints were referred to D.A.'s office. Jablonowski was placed on leave. The D.A. did not pursue charges due to the statute of limitations. The Archdiocese had an independent investigator look into the matter who substantiated the claims. Another alleged victim came forward in September 2002; again, no prosecution due to the SOL. Jablonowski's was fully restricted from ministry, then laicized June 30, 2006.

Ordained: 1968

   

Start Stop Parish Town/Accusations State Position Notes
1968 1068 St. Patrick's Milwaukee WI   This assignment is per the Milwaukee archdiocese.

1968

Milwaukee archbishop was William Edward Cousins (1958-1977), followed by Rmebert George Weakland, O.S.B. (1977-2002)

1982 St. Mary of Czestochowa (Polish)

Milwaukee

• Two separate substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse against Jablonowski were reported to the archdiocese in 2002, incidents which were said to have occurred more than twenty years previously. (Journal Sentinel Online
August 24, 2002)

WI 3/3, 2/2, 2/3 Parish had a school with 396-131 students.
1982 1985 Holy Assumption West Allis WI 2/3 Parish had a school with 219-188 students.
1985 1998 St. Hedwig's Milwaukee WI 1/1 Parish school was consolidated with other parish schools to form Catholic East Elementary.
1998 2002

Blessed Sacrament (Polish)

 

Milwaukee WI 1/2 Parish had a school with 224-200 students and a religious education program with 160-138 students.

2002

Weakland was replaced by Timothy Michael Dolan (2002-2009)

2003 On Leave      

Jablonowski is not indexed beyond the 2003 Directory. He was removed from ministry in July 2002 due to two separate substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of minors from at least twenty years previously. (Journal Sentinel Online
August 25, 2002) Jablonowski is fully restricted from ministry per the archdiocesan website in July 2004.

In September 2002 a third person came forward with allegations of abuse by Jablonowski. The case was too old to prosecute. 

Jablonowski was laicized June 30, 2006. 

 

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1969-2003)

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates Jablonowski's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on February 13, 2021.