Bishop Robert F. Morneau was born September 10, 1938 in New London, Wisconsin. He studied at St. Norbert College in De Pere and Sacred Heart Seminary in Oneida and earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop John Grellinger on May 28, 1966 and worked as an assistant pastor in New London before accepting appointments in Manitowoc where he was a faculty member at Holy Family College (now Silver Lake College) and chaplain at the UW community college and Park Town Home. He has also taught at the Summer Theological Institute of St. Norbert College and served on the college's Board of Trustees.
Father Morneau became an Auxiliary Bishop on February 22, 1979. He was one of the first American priests to be named a bishop by Pope John Paul II. Through the years, he has served the diocese as a member of the College of Consultors and the Diocesan Finance Council, as the Vicar for Priests and the Vicar General, and as pastor of the Resurrection Parish in Allouez.
In 2018, Retired Auxiliary Bishop Robert Morneau of Green Bay requested and was been granted a withdrawal from all public ministry.
In a letter dated Sept. 14 and addressed to Bishop David Ricken, the head of the diocese, Morneau stated that he failed to report to authorities an incident of priest sexual abuse of a minor in 1979. "As a result," wrote Morneau, "this priest was able to abuse again several years later. I intend to spend my time in prayer for all victims and survivors of sexual abuse and I will do corporal works of mercy in reparation for what I failed to do."
In a separate letter, Ricken acknowledged the request. "In light of the public revelations of abuse in the church and the call for more accountability on the part of bishops, Bishop Morneau feels great remorse over the fact that this same priest went on to abuse several other minors," wrote Ricken. "He wants to right himself with God and the people of God.
