Rev. John "Jack" Goeke

Summary of Case: Goeke was suspended from ministry in 1994 when two women accused him of having sexually abused them as children, and when a woman accused him of initiating an "affair" when she went to him for counseling. One woman disclosed that he had abused her beginning in 1963, when she was eleven years old.

Ordained: 1959

   

Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

1959

Covington bishop was William Theodore Mulloy (1944-1959), followed by Richard Henry Ackerman, C.S.Sp. (1960-1978)

1960 St. WIlliam's Lancaster KY 2/2 Parish had a school with 18 boys and 11 girls.
1959 1960 St. Clare's Berea KY   This was a mission of St. William's in Lancaster.
1959 1960 Our Lady of Loretto Mount Vernon KY   This was a mission of St. William's in Lancaster.
1960 1963 Catholic University of America, Caldwell Hall Washington D.C.    
1963 1964 St. Aloysius

Covington

• Accused in a 2003 lawsuit of sexually abusing an eleven year old girl beginning in 1963, when she was a St. Aloysius parishioner. The Kentucky Post [Covington KY]
Downloaded December 24, 2003)

 KY 2/2 Parish had a school with 172 boys and 175 girls.
1963 1964 Secretary of the Diocesan Tribunal Covington KY    
1964 1978 Defensor Vinculi of the Diocesan Tribunal Covington KY    
1964 1978 Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption Covington KY

6/7, 6/6, 5/6, 4/6, 1/6, 1/5, 1/4

In residence; Administrator

The Cathedral had a school with 117-111 boys and 99-92 girls, until 1967 when it merged with another school nearby to form Bishop Howard Elementary. Bishop Howard had 159-128 students.

1978

William Anthony Hughes succeeded Ackerman as bishop (1979-1995)

1981 St. Francis Xavier Falmouth KY 1/1 Administrator  
1981 1989 St. Henry's Erlanger KY 1/3, 1/4 Parish had a school with 511-540 students, and a high school with 135-155 boys and 173-164 girls.
1989 1990         Goeke is not indexed in the 1990 Directory, and is not listed at his previous or next assignments.
1990 1991 St. Catherine of Siena Ft. Thomas KY

1/2

Administrator

Parish had a school with 172 students and a CCD program with 232 students.
1991 1995 Corpus Christi

Newport

• Accused by two women in 1994 who said he sexually abused them as children. Another woman accused him in a lawsuit of having initiated an affair with her when she went to him for counseling. (The Kentucky Post [Covington KY]
Downloaded December 24, 2003)

KY

2/2

In residence. 		Goeke was suspended from ministry in 1994 due to child sexual abuse allegations.

1995

Hughes was replaced by Robert William Muench (1996-2001)

1996         Goeke is not indexed in the 1996 Directory.

1996

Roger Joseph Foys succeeded Muench (2002- )

2002 Leave of Absence       Goeke was suspended permanently from ministry in 2002.


Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1960-2002 )

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates Goeke's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on Oct. 20, 2010