James Stephen Sullivan

James Stephen Sullivan (July 23, 1929 – June 12, 2006) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of the Diocese of Fargo in North Dakota from 1985 to 2002. He previously served as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Lansing in Michigan from 1972 to 1985.

In 2021, the Diocese of Lansing reported that Sullivan had been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors during the 1960s

Biography

Early life Sullivan was born on July 23, 1929, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to Stephen and Dorothy (née Bernier) Sullivan. After attending St. Augustine Cathedral School in Kalamazoo, he attended high school and two years of college at St. Joseph Seminary in Grand Rapids. After doing pastoral work in Flint, Lansing, and St. Joseph, he served as private secretary to Bishop Albers and his successor Bishop Alexander M. Zaleski, and then as assistant chancellor and vicar general of the diocese. Sullivan also served as episcopal liaison to the Cursillo movement and the Catholic Marketing Association, as president of the World Apostolate of Fatima, and as a member of the advisory board for Catholics United for the Faith. Immediately following this news, the John Paul II Catholic Schools network in Fargo renamed Sullivan Middle School as Sacred Heart Middle School.