Retired FBI agent appointed head of U.S. bishops’ National Review Board

James Bogner, a retired FBI agent who currently holds a role in ensuring a safe environment in the Archdiocese of Omaha, has been appointed chair of the board created in 2002 to monitor the implementation of the Dallas Charter.

NEW YORK – James Bogner, a retired FBI agent with decades of law enforcement experience who currently holds a role in ensuring a safe environment in the Archdiocese of Omaha, has been appointed chair of the board created in 2002 to monitor the implementation of the Dallas Charter.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced Bogner’s appointment to lead the National Review Board on August 1. Bogner has been a member of the board since 2020.

Bogner will replace Suzanne Healy, who concluded her term as chair at the conclusion of the USCCB June plenary assembly. Healy joined the National Review Board in 2017 and served a four-year term as the chair from 2020-2024.

Bogner is a retired senior executive special agent with the FBI. During his career with the bureau, he served as the chief of its Internal Affairs/Adjudication and Inspection Units. He was the Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge in Oklahoma City after the 1995 domestic terrorist attack on the federal building. He served in the Senior Executive Service in Washington, D.C., and later as Special Agent-in-Charge of FBI offices in the midwest over Nebraska and Iowa, as well.

These positions included investigations, developing partnerships, addressing national personnel and misconduct policies and issues, conducting national inspections and internal audits, risk analysis, strategic planning, and high-profile media matters, according to the USCCB.

Bogner is a life-long Catholic, founder of his Omaha parish’s “Catholics Returning Home” program for fallen away Catholics and an active member of the Knights of Columbus. He is also chair of the Archdiocese of Omaha’s Advisory Review Board and the Ministerial Misconduct Board. He is chair of the Missionary Society of St. Columban’s United States Review Board, as well.

In a statement, Broglio welcomed Bogner and thanked Healy for her leadership.

“It is propitious to acknowledge the excellent and collaborative manner that has characterized the work of the NRB and the Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People,” Broglio said. “We have witnessed great strides and challenges in the continued and ongoing efforts for the Catholic Church in the United States to strengthen and renew her efforts for the protection of young people and the healing of victims.”

“I thank Mrs. Healy for her longtime service on this most crucial issue, and I look forward to working with the NRB under the leadership of Mr. Bogner to continue that process in the future, Broglio added.

The National Review Board advises the USCCB Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People and works closely with the conference’s Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection in accordance with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People – commonly known as the Dallas Charter – which the bishops adopted in 2002.

Broglio also announced on August 1 the appointment of three new members to the National Review Board: Dr. Paulette Adams, Scott Surette, Barbara Thorp. Vivian Akel has also been reappointed for a second term as a member of the National Review Board, Broglio said.

Adams is a tenured professor emeritus from the University of Louisville School of Nursing who practiced and taught in the profession from 1964-2008. She has also served on the Archdiocese of Louisville’s Sexual Abuse Review Board since its establishment in 2002.

Surette is a clergy sex abuse survivor who wants to “help the Church recover from the deep wounds that sexual abuse scandals have caused,” according to the USCCB. And Thorp is a retired clinical social worker employed by the Archdiocese of Boston for 35 years, who is also a board member for Awake – a community of abuse survivors, concerned Catholics and allies responding to the wounds of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Healy addressed the bishops for the final time as chair at the June plenary assembly. In her address, she called for even greater buy-in from bishops and warned against complacency.

“We must keep the child of today, the child of tomorrow, and especially that child of yesterday, at the center of all of our decision making.” Healy said June 14. “I am in awe of the many examples of compassionate, radical accompaniment occurring across the U.S. Again, we cannot become complacent, and we must remain vigilant in ongoing support of these important ministries and their departments.”

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