Lawrence Donald Soens
Lawrence Donald Soens | |
|---|---|
| Bishop Emeritus of Sioux City | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Appointed | June 15, 1983 |
| Installed | August 17, 1983 |
| Term ended | November 28, 1998 |
| Predecessor | Frank Henry Greteman |
| Successor | Daniel DiNardo |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | May 6, 1950 |
| Consecration | August 17, 1983 by James Joseph Byrne, Gerald Francis O'Keefe, Frank Henry Greteman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 26, 1926 Iowa City, Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | November 1, 2021 (aged 95) Sioux City, Iowa, U.S. |
| Styles of Lawrence Donald Soens | |
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| Reference style | |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Bishop |
Ordination history of Lawrence Donald Soens | |||||||||
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Lawrence Donald Soens (August 26, 1926 – November 1, 2021) was an American bishop of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Sioux City, Iowa, from 1983 to 1998.
Life and career[]
Early life and ministry[]
Soens was born in Iowa City, Iowa, on August 26, 1926. He was educated at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, Saint Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa, and studied for the priesthood at Kenrick Seminary near Saint Louis, Missouri. He also completed graduate studies at the University of Iowa.[1]
Soens was ordained a priest on May 6, 1950, for the Diocese of Davenport. He was engaged in both academic and pastoral work in the diocese as a priest. Soens' first assignment was as an assistant pastor at St. Paul's Church in Burlington, Iowa. He then joined the faculty of St. Ambrose Academy in Davenport and then became the assistant pastor at St. Bridget's Church in Victor, Iowa.
Soen's next assignment was as director of Regina High School in Iowa City. He went on to become the rector of St. Ambrose Seminary and served on the faculty of St. Ambrose College. His next assignment was as pastor at Assumption Church in Charlotte, Iowa and St. Patrick in Villa Nova. He was pastor at St. Mary's Church in Clinton, Iowa, when Pope John Paul II named him a Prelate of Honor, with the title of Monsignor on December 18, 1981.[2]
Bishop of Sioux City[]
On June 15, 1983, John Paul II named Soens as the fifth bishop of Sioux City. He was ordained a bishop and installed on August 17, 1983, at the Cathedral of the Ephiphany by Archbishop James Joseph Byrne. Gerald Francis O'Keefe and Frank Henry Greteman were the principal co-consecrators.[3]
In February 1986, Soens received a letter detailing allegations against Jerome Coyle, a diocese priest. The diocese had sent Coyle to Minnesota to train as a hospital chaplain. A supervisor in that program wrote Soens that Coyle was exhibiting inappropriate behavior around young boys. Soens then dispatched Coyle to the Servants of the Paraclete foundation house in Jemez Springs, New Mexico for evaluation and treatment. On May 15, 1986, the Foundation informed Soens that Coyle had admitted to fondling up to 50 teenagers. Soens suspended Coyle from parish assignments, but did not report any of his crimes to authorities.[4]
While he was bishop, many programs were established or expanded including: Ministry 2000, the Priests Retirement Fund, youth ministry programs and the diocese mandated parish pastoral and finance commissions.[5]
In 1997, Soens requested a coadjutor bishop and on August 19, 1997, Pope John Paul II named Msgr. Daniel DiNardo from the Diocese of Pittsburgh.[6] Soens' resignation as Bishop of Sioux City was accepted by the Holy See on November 28, 1998, and he became Bishop Emeritus of Sioux City.
Later life and death[]
On June 8,2005, Soens and the diocese were sued by a man who accused Soens of fondling him starting in 1963 when Soens was director at Regina Catholic High School in Iowa City.[7] [8]
On November 6, 2008, the diocesan review board for the Diocese of Sioux City reported that there were credible accusations that Soens had sexually abused minors. Thirty-one men had accused him of abusing them between 1950 and 1983. The case was referred to the Vatican for further action.[9]
Soens died in Sioux City, Iowa, on November 1, 2021, at age 95.[3]
See also[]
- Catholic Church hierarchy
- Catholic Church in the United States
- Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
- List of Catholic bishops of the United States
- Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops
References[]
- ^ Bunson, Matthew (2010). 2010 Catholic Almanac. Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor. p. 414. ISBN 9781592766147.
- ^ "Seven priests celebrate jubilees". The Catholic Globe. 2004-04-14. Archived from the original on 2008-12-05. Retrieved 2012-10-13.
- ^ a b "Bishop Lawrence Donald Soens". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ^ "Iowa bishop says diocese never tried to cover up abuse by former priest | The Catholic Sun". thecatholicsun.com. 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
- ^ Diocese of Sioux City History, www.scdiocese.org[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Daniel Nicholas Cardinal DiNardo". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ^ "Former Sioux City Bishop Named in Sexual Abuse Lawsuit". www.bishop-accountability.org. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
- ^ "Retired bishop abused minors. - Free Online Library".
- ^ "Diocesan board finds retired Iowa bishop abused minors". National Catholic Reporter. 2008-11-06. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
External links[]
Episcopal succession[]
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- 1926 births
- 2021 deaths
- 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States
- Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in the United States
- Kenrick–Glennon Seminary alumni
- Loras College alumni
- People from Iowa City, Iowa
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport
- Roman Catholic bishops of Sioux City
- St. Ambrose University alumni
- University of Iowa alumni