Rev. L. Joseph Obersinner, S.J.

Assignment Record– Rev. L. Joseph Obersinner, S.J.

Summary of Case: L. Joseph Obersinner was ordained for the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus in 1957. He spent many years as an Indian missionary in Omak WA in the Diocese of Spokane and at St. Ignatius Mission in the Diocese of Helena MT. He was also assigned to parishes in the Archdiocese of Portland OR, and the Diocese of Boise ID. In the late 1990s or early 2000s he retired to the Regis Jesuit Community in Spokane.

Obersinner's name was included on the Helena diocese's list posted to its website in April 2015 of clerics with allegations against them of sexual abuse of at least one minor.

Ordained: 1957

Start	Stop	Assignments	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1957 San Francisco archdiocese Archbishop John Joseph Mitty (1935-1961).	1958	Alma College	Los Gatos	CA	4th year theologian
1958 Seattle archdiocese Archbishop was Thomas Arthur Connolly (1950-1975).	1959	Manresa Hall	Port Townsend	WA	tertian father
1959 Spokane diocese Bishop was Bernard Joseph Topel (1955-1978).	1971	St. Mary Indian Mission	Omak	WA	2/3, 2/2 Assistant Pastor, Prefect of Discipline, Minister, Principal
1959	1971	St. Joseph	East Omak	WA		This was a mission of St. Mary Indian Mission in Omak.
1971 Helena diocese Bishop was Raymond Gerhardt Hunthausen (1962-1975), followed by Elden Francis Curtiss (1976-1993).	1981	St. Ignatius Mission	St. Ignatius	MT	3/3, 2/4, 3/4
1971	1981	Sacred Heart	Arlee	MT		This was a mission of St. Ignatius Mission.
1971	1980	St. John Berchman	Jocko	MT		This was a mission of St. Ignatius Mission.
1971	1979	St. Leonard	Dixon	MT		This was a mission of St. Ignatius Mission.
1971	1979	Sacred Heart	Dixon	MT		This was a mission of St. Ignatius Mission.
1981	1982					Obersinner is not indexed in the 1982 Directory, nor is he listed in the diocesan pages as at his previous or next assignments. Per the Oregon Province Jesuits, Obersinner spent this year on sabbatical at the Loyola Renewal Center in Portland.
1982 Helena diocese Bishop was lden Francis Curtiss (1976-1993)	1984	St. Joseph	Omak	WA	1/1	This was a mission of St. Mary Indian Mission in Omak. The 1984 Directory indexes Obersinner also as at The Jesuit Provincial Residence in Portland, OR.
1984 Portland archdiocese Archbishop was Cornelius Michael Power (1974-1986), followed by William Joseph Levada (1986-1995).	1989	St. Luke	Woodburn	OR	3/3, 3/4, 2/3	St. Luke's had a school with 265-239 students.
1984	1989	St. Agnes/Mision San Lucas	Hubbard	OR		This was a mission of St. Luke in Woodburn.
1989 Helena diocese Bishop was lden Francis Curtiss (1976-1993)	1991	St. Francis Xavier	Missoula	MT	3/3
1991	1992					Obersinner is not indexed in the 1992 Directory, nor is he listed in the diocesan pages as at his previous or next assignments.
1992 Portland archdiocese Levada was succeeded as archbishop by Francis Eugene George, O.M.I. (1996-1997).	1997	Sacred Heart	Tillamook	OR
1992	1997	St. Joseph	Cloverdale	OR	1/1 Administrator	This was a mission of Sacred Heart in Tillamook.
1997 Boise City diocese Bishop was Tod David Brown (1988-1998).	1998	Sacred Heart	De Smet	ID	2/2
1997	1998	Our Lady of Perpetual Help	Plummer	ID		This was a mission of Sacred Heart in De Smet.
1997	1998	St. Michael's	Worley	ID		This was a mission of Sacred Heart in De Smet.
1998	2001				Per the Jesuits, Obersinner was assistant to the director of the Rocky Mountain Missions.	Obersinner is not indexed in the 1999-2001 Directories, nor is he listed in the diocesan pages as at his previous or next assignments. Per the Oregon Province Jesuits, he moved in 1998 to the Spokane Regis Community.
2001 Spokane diocese Bishop was William Joseph Skylstad (1990-2010), followed by Blase Joseph Cupich (2010-2014), and Thomas Anthony Daly (2015-).	2015	Spokane Regis Community	Spokane	WA

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.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (Kenedy & Sons, 1958-2015).

• Obersinner Bio, Oregon Province Society of Jesus, 2005
• Helena Diocese Bankruptcy Settlement, March 4, 2015
• Diocese of Helena, April 29, 2015
• Helena Diocese names perpetrators of sexual abuse; many at western Montana parishes, by David Erickson, Missoulian.com, April 30, 2015

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 Obersinner's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with the allegations against him, as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegations 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 October 4, 2016.