IOWA
Des Moines Register
By SHIRLEY RAGSDALE
REGISTER RELIGION EDITOR
March 14, 2005
A Dubuque woman has filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Dubuque alleging that in 1959, she was raped as a child by the Rev. John A. Schmitz.
The lawsuit, which was filed Friday in Dubuque County District Court, is the first to name Schmitz, who is deceased. The lawsuit alleges that the woman was assaulte while she was attending Sacred Heart School in Dubuque,
Msgr. James O. Barta, vicar general, said the archdiocese has not yet received the lawsuit and would have not comment until Archbishop Jerome Hanus and church attorneys had read it.
The Dubuque archdiocese has asked the Vatican to sanction seven Catholic priests who have credible allegations of sexual misconduct against them.
Posted by kshaw at March 14, 2005 05:53 PM