Kc - Archbishop Resigns before Deposition

By David Clohessy
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
April 10, 2013

http://www.snapnetwork.org/kc_archbishop_resigns_before_deposition

An Iowa Catholic archbishop has announced his resignation "for health reasons" just two weeks prior to his scheduled deposition in a clergy sex abuse and cover up case.

He’s Jerome Hanus who has headed the Archdiocese of Dubuque, IA and will soon live again in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

From 1977 to 1987, Jerome Hanus was abbot at Conception Abbey in Conception, MO (Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph). In a videotaped interview and a signed confession from 2011, Bede Parry admitted that Abbot Jerome Hanus knew about Parry's previous sexual misconduct yet still placed Parry in a position of authority with the Conception Abbey Boy Choir where Parry reoffended with at least five choir participants.

With this resignation, Hanus has become to first high-ranking church official to step down during Pope Francis’ new regime.

[BishopAccountability.org]

“It’s extremely rare for a standing Archbishop to be desposed, and even moreso when that official has been named as an enabler by a predator priest himself,” said said David Clohessy, SNAP Director. “The consequences from this deposition could be huge.”