June 03, 2005

Two more lawsuits filed against Dubuque Archdiocese

IOWA
WQAD

WATERLOO, Iowa The Archdiocese of Dubuque faces two more lawsuits allegedly sexual abuse by former priests in the 1960s and '70s.

Both lawsuits were filed yesterday in U-S District Court in Cedar Rapids.

One names the Reverend Patrick McElliott, who served as pastor of St. John's Catholic Church in Waterloo from 1954 to 1963. He died in 1987.

The second lawsuit is against the Reverend William Schwartz, who was stripped of priestly duties in the 1980s and now lives in Arizona. Schwartz served as spiritual director at Columbus High School from 1975 to 1979 and as associate pastor at St. John's in the early '60s.

Schwartz referred all questions to his attorney, Robert Day of Dubuque, who did not immediately return a telephone call.

Posted by kshaw at June 3, 2005 03:40 PM