CATHOLIC DIOCESE IN IOWA FILES CHAPTER 11!

The Tampa Tribune: October 10, 2006


“Catholic Diocese in Iowa Files Chapter 11.” I read this headline in The Tampa Tribune this morning, and realized it was the Davenport Diocese of my youth. The bishop of the 1940s was Ralph L. Hayes, a good Irishman, who confirmed me at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Clinton, Iowa.

During my elementary school years at that school, I was an altar boy. And as my book In the Shadow of the Courthouse: Memoirs of the 1940s Written as a Novel (AuthorHouse 2003) points out, I had my moments with St. Patrick’s pastor, the Most Reverend Harvey Finefield.

That said, I served 7:30 a.m. masses with him for years, and enjoyed virtually every minute of it. Father Finefield was a dedicated priest and a tribute to his vocation. He passed on after more than a half century of service to the priesthood with his pastoral role unblemished.

That was not the case with his assistant pastor, the Most Reverend Father Anthony Geertz. Over recent years, it has come to my attention as I have returned to my hometown that Father Geertz left the priesthood, married, and died some time ago. Posthumously, I have learned that he, along with other priests in the diocese, has been sued for sex abuse.

This absolutely astounds me because I knew Father Geertz well, was a visitor to his home and wonderful family in Davenport, Iowa, often accompanied him on his shopping sprees for electronics, then, mostly in hi-fi equipment as he loved music.

In every way, Father Geertz was a beautiful man, helpful, kind, considerate, modest, and humble. He was 27-years-old when he came to St. Patrick’s in the 1946 – 1947 school year. I remember that because he told us how hard it was for him to become a priest because Latin was such a challenge. Then with a typical self-deprecating way about him, added, “But that was nothing compared to giving sermons.”

Anyone who ever heard a Father Geertz sermon appreciates the agony he went through to deliver it. The agony was almost as bad as for those that had to be his audience.

The state of the Davenport Diocese saddens me. This is compounded by the legacy of legal charges and innuendos against diocesan priests, including Father Geertz. Dozens of claims were paid out in the fall of 2004 amounting to more than $10.4 million to 37 victims. My mind is incredulous because one of these priests was very important to me in my youth, and he couldn’t have been a better role model.

I have been trained as a psychologist, yes, an industrial and organizational psychologist, and not a clinical psychologist, true, but I’ve taken many of the same courses, and know how easy it is for one to imagine a life gone awry looking for a source of the trouble.

In my day, we would blame our parents, especially our fathers, for not making satisfactory progress. But since the 1960s and the “sexual revolution,” there has been a myriad of skeletons on which we have been allowed to drape the ghosts of our confusion.

Is this the case of some? Obviously, I don’t know.

I do know the Bishop of the St. Petersburg Diocese here in the Tampa Bay Area was accused of “sexual abuse” by a protégé he befriended and treated as a son. The charge against the bishop? He gave extravagant gifts to the young man, the same that a parent might of a favorite child.

Now, I must make an apology to his Excellency the Bishop of Davenport, William Franklin, for blaming the church for erasing my St. Patrick Catholic Church, Rectory and School from the face of the earth.

I thought it was a draconian measure made with great insensitivity to the needs of the Clinton, Iowa Catholic community. I was wrong.

Having been an executive, I know about decisions you have to make involving facilities and people that are never shared “up front” regarding the reason why. That causes people to speculate and think all sorts of terrible things about those in charge. For a modest middle working class diocese, as the Davenport Diocese is, paying out $10.4 million from limited coffers had to be terribly painful if not extremely difficult for the bishop.

I had great affection and great respect for his Excellency Ralph L. Hayes, Bishop of Davenport, and I’m sure Bishop Franklin maintains the same tradition. My best to him and the diocese, and this, too, shall pass.

James R. Fisher, Jr., Ph.D.
6714 Jennifer Drive
Temple Terrace, FL 33617-2504
Email: thedeltagrpfl@cs.com
Website: www.fisherofideas.com