DUBUQUE (IA)
Des Moines Register
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
December 19, 2005
Demonstrators in Dubuque urged action Monday from the head of Iowa’s Catholic bishops, saying Archbishop Jerome Hanus has not done enough to discipline a Sioux City priest accused of molesting boys.
The group, representing three support groups for clergy sex abuse victims, picketed outside the Dubuque Archdiocesan Center and submitted a letter to the archdiocese outlining its concerns.
Demonstrators said their main goal is seeking official sanctions against Bishop Emeritus Lawrence Soens of the Sioux City diocese. Soens retired in 1998 but has been accused in nine lawsuits of molesting boys while he was principal at Iowa City Regina High School and while he was rector of St. Ambrose Seminary in Davenport.
Soens, who last year settled one of the lawsuits and has denied all charges, has remained active, appearing with Hanus at an Oct. 30 Mass to honor the archbishop’s 10th anniversary heading the Dubuque archdiocese.