Archdiocese of Dubuque – Table of Accused Priests
February 21, 2006

[Note from BishopAccountability.org: This web page was created from the Google HTML version of the archdiocese's PDF file. ]

Table of priests against whom public accusations of sexual abuse of minors have been made and/or lawsuits have been filed. They are listed chronologically according to the earliest time the sexual abuse occurred, according to the accusations. The name of the priest is included, as well as dates of birth, ordination, and death. In the “Comments” section, the time that the accusation became public is indicated. At the end of the table, there is provided an alphabetical list of the priests, with each priest’s dates and places of assignments. The current status of the priest is also listed in that summary. Being included in this table does not necessarily mean that the accusation has been proven in a court of law or shown to have occurred through an outside investigation or admitted to by the person accused.

[Note from BishopAccountability.org: The "table" and "list" from the archdiocese are somewhat difficult to use, because certain kinds of information about the priests are given in the table, and different kinds of information are provided in the list.

In the web version below, we have presented the archdiocese's table and list in black. Then we have copied the information from the table (decade of first offense, date of birth, date of ordination, date of death, and comments) into the list. This duplicated information is displayed in red.

Thus the list is a collated record of all the information provided by the archdiocese in this document.

We have also provided links (also in red) between the entries in the table and the entries in the list, for another way of cross-referencing the two collections of information.

Occasionally we have added a comment in square brackets to explain an entry.]

An accusation against Rev. Nicholas Cigrand, which resulted in a lawsuit, is not considered true by the Archdiocese. The lawsuit was dismissed on motion for summary judgment. That court decision is being appealed by the plaintiff.

Regarding the case of the Rev. Michael Fitzgerald: In 2000 he admitted improper use of the Internet but denied sexual abuse of minors. One anonymous phone call claimed to know from a third party about sexual abuse of a minor, but the person making the accusation declined to identify himself or the supposed victim. Because of the media attention devoted to the matter, Father Fitzgerald resigned his position as pastor of St. Joseph in Marion, Iowa. He died as the result of an highway accident on October 2, 2001.

Other accusations which have been made against other priests (and which have been described as “credible”) are not included for one or more of the following reasons: They have either not been sustained, not proven, not admitted to, or not adjudicated by a civil court or ecclesiastical process. In some cases the information came in connection with medical reports, which are governed by civil law restrictions, or from other sources for which church and/or civil law imposes restrictions. In a very few cases, the sacramental seal of confession was involved.

Listing of the dates and places of assignment
of the priests included in the above table

John J. Brickley born 8/12/1909, ordained 6/15/1935, died 10/30/1998

Albert L. Carman born 5/25/1911, ordained 7/28/1945, died 4/19/1980

Timothy L. DeVenney born 7/24/1963, ordained 6/5/1993

Henry N. Dunkel born 1/31/1921, ordained 7/28/1945, died 10/28/1998

Albert J. Forster born 6/24/1901, ordained 5/29/1926, died 3/26/1990

William A. Goltz born 2/18/1925, ordained 4/16/1950, died 1/7/2006

Thomas B. Knox born 11/21/1910, ordained 5/30/1942, died 3/9/1968

Patrick W. McElliott born 10/18/1910, ordained 6/6/1936, died 11/14/1987

Julius J. Olinger born 6/14/1906, ordained 5/30/1931, died 4/19/1993

Joseph I. Patnode born 11/20/1885, ordained 06/11/1918, died 12/30/1977

John M. Peters born 10/23/1920, ordained 12/17/1944, died 5/31/1997

Robert J. Reiss born 7/17/1929, ordained 6/4/1955, died 2/3/2005

William A. Roach born 2/21/1921, ordained 7/28/1945, died 4/9/1986

Waukon	St. Patrick	1945-1947
Cascade	St. Martin	1947-1950
Dubuque	Holy Ghost	1950-1951
	Archbishop’s Secretary	1951-1952
Rome	Graduate studies	1952-1955
	Chancellor	1955-1960
Dubuque	St. Anthony Home (chaplain)	1956-1957
Dubuque	Mt. Carmel (chaplain)	1957-1961
	Vicar General	1958-1961
Cedar Rapids	Immaculate Conception	1961-1967
Oxford Junction	Sacred Heart	1967-1969
Key West	St. Joseph	1969-1979
Waukon	St. Patrick	1979-1984
West Ridge	St. John the Baptist	1979-1984
New Melleray	Holy Family	1984-1986
St. Joseph Prairie	St. Joseph	1984-1986
	Deceased	1986
Earliest claimed abuse [in] 1960s. Accused of sexual abuse of several male minors. Three lawsuits filed in 2005; settled in mediation February 21, 2006.

Allen M. Schmitt born 8/15/1945, ordained 5/23/1971

John A. Schmitz born 6/10/1929, ordained 2/0/1957, died 10/15/1991

William T. Schwartz born 5/7/1932, ordained 2/1/1958

Robert V. Swift born 2/1/1918, ordained 12/17/1944, died 8/20/1980