BishopAccountability.org
	Lawsuit Names Former Priest John Schmitz WQAD [Dubuque IA] March 14, 2005 DUBUQUE, Iowa A lawsuit has been filed against the Archdiocese of Dubuque by a woman who claims she was sexually abused in 1959 by John Schmitz, a former priest who worked in nine eastern Iowa parishes from 1957 through 1982. Monsignor James Barta says the archdiocese had been told about the lawsuit but had not yet received a copy. A court clerk confirmed that the lawsuit had been filed Friday but not yet recorded in the court's online database. The archdiocese says Schmitz, who died in 1991, was ordained February 2nd, 1957. He served in nine parishes over the years: Immaculate Conception, in Lansing; St. Joseph, New Hampton; St. Joseph, Mason City; All Saints, Cedar Rapids; St. Mary, Manchester; St. Joseph, Greeley; St. Peter, Clermont; St. Anthony, Zearing; and St. Mary, Greene. In 1982, parishioners complained to Archbishop James Byrne about Schmitz's financial skills and his relationship with an adult woman. Byrne removed Schmitz as a pastor and sent him to a treatment program. Afterward, the archbishop did not accept Schmitz back.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.