Father Bernard McMeel
Diocese of San Jose (Jesuits)
Ordained: 1954
Died: 1994
Assignment History:
- 1954-1955: Alma College (Los Gatos, CA)
- 1955-1957: Immaculate Conception Church/Monroe High School (Fairbanks, AK)
- 1957-1958: Manresa Hall (Port Townsend, AK)
- 1958-1959: St. Patrick’s (Barrow, AK)
- 1959-1965: Sacred Heart (Chevak, AK)
- 1964-1968: Holy Cross (Holy Cross, AK)
- 1966-1970: Council of Vigilance
- 1968-1973: Immaculate Conception (Fairbanks, AK)
- 1968-1973: Superior Regular (Fairbanks, AK)
- 1970-1971: Diocesan Building Commission (Fairbanks, AK)
- 1969-1973: Pontifical Society for Propagation of the Faith (Fairbanks, AK)
- 1973-1976: St. John Berchman (Galena, AK)
- 1976-1977: Little Flower of Jesus (Hooper Bay, AK)
- 1977-1978: St. Joseph’s (Tununak, AK)
- 1978: St. Paul’s Indian Mission Church (Hays, MT)
- 1979: Institute for Clergy Education, Notre Dame University (South Bend, IN)
- 1979: St. Rose of Lima
- 1979-1990: St. Paul’s Indian Mission Church (Ft. Belknap Indian Reservation/Hays, MT)
- 1978-1990: St. Thomas (Lodge Pole, MT)
- 1978-1990: St. Joseph’s
- 1988-1990: Sacred Heart (Ft. Belknap Agency)
- 1991-1994: St. Paul’s Indian Mission Church (Ft. Belknap Indian Reservation/Hays, MT)
- 1991-1994: St. Thomas (Lodge Pole, MT)
- 1991-1994: St. Joseph’s (Zortman, MT)
- 1991-1994: Sacred Heart (Ft. Belknap Agency, MT)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Father Bernard McMeel:
Fr. Bernard McMeel, known as Fr. Barney, was a priest of the Oregon Province, ordained in 1954. He worked in multiple dioceses, including Juneau, Great Falls-Billings, and the Diocese of San Jose. According to media reports, in 2006, he was accused in a lawsuit, along with Rev. Andrew Eordogh, of repeatedly sexually abusing a 4-year old child from 1967-1970. His accuser said McMeel “handed him off” to Eordogh when McMeel left in 1968 to become Superior Regular of Jesuits in Alaska. The suit claimed he was transferred out of Alaska in 1978 after the order learned he had abused a child. He was assigned to the mission church on an Indian reservation in Great Falls, MT.
According to the 2010 bankruptcy reorganization documents for the Diocese of Fairbanks, there was one pending claim of abuse by McMeel. In 2018, his name was included on the Diocese of Great-Falls Billings list of clergy credibly accused of child sexual abuse, as well as on the Jesuits West Province list. It noted allegations of abuse that occurred in 1977, were reported in 1978. Information about the age/gender of his alleged victim/victims or the nature of the alleged sexual abuse is unknown.
Fr. McMeel died in 1994.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of San Jose in California. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in one of California’s Catholic dioceses, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of San Jose now have legal options due to a temporary change in the law, but filing deadlines will apply so do not delay in reaching out to us. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in California and nationwide. We can help.
Contact us toll-free at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.