Diocese: Iowa pastor asked to be released from priesthood

By Katherine Klingseis
Des Moines Register
January 26, 2015

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/2015/01/26/iowa-pastor-asked-pope-priesthood-removal/22374581/

Iowa News

The Iowa pastor accused in a “decades-old case of sexual abuse” asked Pope Francis to release him from priesthood, the Diocese of Des Moines said Monday.

Pope Francis removed Howard Fitzgerald from priesthood Jan. 19 after the Vatican received findings from a diocese review committee. The committee found credible evidence last year that Fitzgerald sexually abused a minor in a “decades-old incident.”

Fitzgerald voluntarily asked Pope Francis to “release him from the priesthood and sacred celibacy,” the Diocese of Des Moines said in a news release Monday.

Fitzgerald worked at churches in central and western Iowa for 35 years. He was placed on indefinite leave in June from his most recent positions at St. Thomas Aquinas Church and Simpson College in Indianola and at Immaculate Conception in nearby St. Marys.

The release stated the diocese has been told by Fitzgerald’s counselor that Fitzgerald “is no threat to broader society.”

Fitzgerald, who has indicated to the diocese that he is living with family, will be granted three months separation compensation and will be able to work at a secular job. He will also have access to Social Security and retirement benefits “of the diocese in which he is vested.”

At the victim’s request, church officials have not released information about when and where the abuse occurred. The diocesan Victim Assistance Advocate provided services to the victim, and local law enforcement and the Allegation Review Committee were immediately informed of the allegations, the news release stated.

Bishop Richard Pates has apologized to the victim. The news release states Pates encourages anyone who may be a victim of sexual abuse by clergy to contact the diocesan Victim Assistance Advocate Sherry Knox, a staff member at Polk County Victim Services.