Rev. James W. Pommier-Assignment

Rev. James W. Pommier

Summary of Case: Pommier's personnel file showed numerous allegations in the 1960s and 1970s. He left the Bismarck diocese in 1977 without the bishop's permission. He worked in Seattle until 1985, when his faculties were removed by the archbishop. The Bismarck bishop removed his faculties in 1990. Pommier may have later worked in MT. The diocese announced in March 2008 that the Vatican had laicized Pommier for "ecclesiastical crimes against youth." He lived in WA until his death in January 2012. There have been at least four settlements. Pommier's name was included on the Seattle archdiocese's list in January 2016. Included on the Bismarck diocese's list of those with substantiated allegations in January 2020.

Ordained: 1954
Died: January 28, 2012

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1954 Bismarck bishop was Lambert Anthony Hoch (1952-1956)	1955	St. Patrick's	Dickinson	ND	2/2	Parish had a school with 309 students.
1955 Hilary Baumann Hacker replaced Hoch as bishop (1956-1982)	1957	St. Vincent dePaul	Mott	ND	1/2	Parish had a school with 182-187 students.
1957	1961	St. John the Baptist	New Leipzig	ND	1/1
1957	1961	Mary Immaculate	Miner	ND		This was a mission of St. John the Baptist in New Leipzig.
1957	1961	Sacred Heart of Jesus	Bently	ND		This was a mission of St. John the Baptist in New Leipzig.
1961	1962	Immaculate Conception	Max • Accused anonymously by three boys in 1962. (Bismarck Tribune March 28, 2008)	ND	1/1
1961	1962	Holy Ghost	Butte	ND		This was a mission of Immaculate Conception in Max.
1962	1963	SS. Peter and Paul	Fallon	ND	1/1	Parish had a school with 58 students.
1963		Sacred Heart	Scranton	ND		This assignment is per a news article.
1963	1970?	St. Theresa of the Child Jesus	Carson • Accused in 1964 as well as in 1968 or 1969. (Bismarck Tribune March 28, 2008)	ND	1/1	In the 1967, 1968, 1969, and 1970 Directories Pommier is not indexed, but is listed in the Bismarck diocesean pages as at this parish.
		St. Boniface	Grenora	ND	Pastor	This assignment per a news article.
1970	1978	St. Joseph's Hospital	Minot • Accused in 1971 as well as in 1972 or 1974, and in 1977. Most of those reporting having been abused by Pommier were early to mid-teens at the time of the abuse, and one was as young as ten. (Bismarck Tribune March 28, 2008)	ND	Resident Chaplain	The 1978 Directory is the last in which Pommier appears. Per news accounts, Pommier left the Bismarck diocese in 1977 and moved to Washington state. He did not inform the Bismarck bishop, nor did he ask permission. Seattle archbishop Hunthausen removed his priestly faculties in 1985, as did Bismarck bishop John Francis Kinney in 1990. He may have gone to the Great Falls and Billings Montana areas, where he represented himself as a priest. Pommier was laicized in 2008. He died January 28, 2012. (Minot Daily News, February 4, 2012)

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1955-1981).

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 & 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.