Update: Archbishop Hanus Resigning; New Archbishop of Dubuque Named

The Wcfcourier
April 8, 2013

http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/update-archbishop-hanus-resigning-new-archbishop-of-dubuque-named/article_654db840-a039-11e2-bb6d-0019bb2963f4.html?comment_form=true

Dubuque Archbishop Jerome Hanus is scheduled to attend the 'ground blessing' for the proposed Catholic middle school Saturday at Columbus High School in Waterloo

Michael O. Jackels, new archibishop of the Dubuque Diocese.

Archbishop of Dubuque, Jerome Hanus, right, presides over the Chrism Mass at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church Tuesday, March 26, 2013, in Waterloo, Iowa

rchbishop of Dubuque, Jerome Hanus presides over the Chrism Mass at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church Tuesday, March 26, 2013, in Waterloo, Iowa.

Archbishop of Dubuque, Jerome Hanus presides over the Chrism Mass at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church Tuesday, March 26, 2013, in Waterloo, Iowa

DUBUQUE, Iowa --- The Archdiocese of Dubuque, which oversees the Cedar Valley area, was expected to announce today a new archbishop, replacing Jerome Hanus, who is resigning.

A press conference was scheduled for 10 a.m. at which time Hanus, who has been archbishop of the Dubuque Archdiocese since 1995, was to introduce Bishop Michael O. Jackels, bishop of Wichita, Kan., as the new archbishop. Jackels was appointed by new Pope Francis to be the next archbishop.

In a statement released this morning, Hanus, 72, said, "As many of you know, my health has declined in recent years. As a result, some time

ago I submitted my resignation as Archbishop to the proper authorities.

In a recent telephone conversation, the Pope’s representative in the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, informed me that our Holy Father, Pope Francis, had accepted my resignation and appointed as the next Archbishop of Dubuque, the Most Rev. Michael O. Jackels, currently Bishop of Wichita, Kansas. My immediate response

to the selection of him as my successor was: 'I am thrilled.'"

Jackels, who turns 59 on April 13, is the current bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wichita, Kan., appointed by Pope John Paul II on Jan. 28, 1995. He is a native of Rapid City, S.D., who moved frequently as a child of a military family from Wyoming to Spain to California before settling in Nebraska. Prior to joining Kentucky’s St. Pius X Seminary in 1975, Jackels attended the University of Nebraska. He holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from St. Pius X and a master’s in theology from Mt. Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. He earned his doctorate in sacred theology in 1989 from Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

He was ordained a priest in 1981.

In 1994, Pope John Paul II honored Jackels by naming him a Prelate of Honor, earning him the title of Monsignor.

Prior to leading the diocese in Wichita beginning in 2005, Jackels worked for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome for eight years under Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

Hanus is the ninth archbishop of Dubuque. A member of the Order of Saint Benedict, he was abbot of Cenception Abbey from 1977 to 1987, and served as bishop of St. Cloud from 1987 to 1994, and co-adjutor archbishop of Dubuque from 1994-95.

The Archdiocese of Dubuque has 17,403 square miles and includes 30 counties in Iowa. It has a population of 995,367 people, of whom 202,601, or 20 percent, are Catholic, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.