2 D.M. priests removed by pope for sex abuse
Register Staff Reports
The Des Moines Register
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Two Iowa priests accused of sexually abusing minors have
been removed from the priesthood by Pope Benedict XVI,
the Des Moines Diocese announced Thursday.
Bishop Joseph Charron had requested the action against
Richard Wagner and John Ryan, and the men agreed to it.
If they’d fought the request, the pope could have ordered
them defrocked, which would have carried similar effects
but a more punitive connotation.
Catholic leaders announced in 2003 that the men were
being relieved of all priestly duties because of credible
accusations that they’d molested minors. Wagner was a
high-profile priest, serving as principal of Dowling
Catholic High School in West Des Moines from 1971 to
1976.
Allegations against himsurfaced in 1993. They concerned
abuse of a female high school student in the late 1980s,
when Wagner was pastor at St. Mary Parish in Red Oak.
After the allegations were made, the church quietly
removed Wagner from Red Oak, sent him to treatment, then
allowed him to continue a restricted ministry in Des
Moines.
Ryan was ordained in 1950 and retired in 1988. He was
accused of molesting adolescent boys while he served at
St. Theresa parish in Des Moines in the 1980s.
Ryan also had ties to Dowling, where he taught from 1953
to 1965. Under the action announced Thursday, the men
were "laicized."
"As a result of these actions, John Ryan and Richard
Wagner are no longer priests of the Diocese of Des Moines
and may not exercise priestly ministry or identify
themselves as priests," Bishop Charron said in a press
release.
Charron had recommended in 2003 that the pope defrock the
two men and a third priest, Albert Wilwerding, who later
died.
More at:
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061116/NEWS/61116021/1001/OBITUARIES
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