Albert Rudolph Zuroweste
The Most Reverend Albert Rudolph Zuroweste | |
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Catholic University of America |
Albert Rudolph Zuroweste (April 26, 1901 – March 28, 1987) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Belleville from 1948 to 1976.
Biography
Early life
Albert Zuroweste was born on April 26, 190, in
Priesthood
Zuroweste was
Bishop of Belleville
On November 29, 1947, Zuroweste was appointed the third bishop of the Diocese of Belleville by
In 1969, Zuroweste became embroiled in a racial dispute in Cairo, Illinois. He had sent Fr Gerald Montroy to Cairo in 1968 to minister to the poor and to
In December 1971, Zuroweste excommunicated Bernard Bodewes, a diocesan priest he had sent to Cairo to help Montroy. Bodewes had sued Zuroweste for $7,350 in damages for withholding his pay since January 1 of that year. Bodewes said that Zuroweste had withheld the pay because he was angry over Bodewes' support of Montroy's initiatives in Cairo.[5] By 1972, Zuroweste took action to evict Montroy and the organizations working in St. Columba.[6]
Later life
On August 30, 1976, Pope Paul VI accepted Zuroweste's resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Belleville.[3] Albert Zuroweste died on March 28, 1987, in Belleville at age 85.
Sexual abuse mishandling
During a 2008 lawsuit against the Diocese of Belleville, information was revealed about Zuroweste's treatment of a child abuser priest. In 1973 Gina Parks, a 16 year-old parishioner in St. Francisville, Illinois, told diocesan officials that her parish priest, Raymond Kownacki, had raped and impregnated her. Kownacki also encouraged Parks to have an abortion.
After hearing Parks' story, Zuroweste did not report the allegations to the police or initiate an investigation. Instead, he transferred Kownacki several months later to St. Theresa Parish in Salem, Illinois, without any restrictions. By 1982, allegations surfaced that Kownacki was sexually abusing young boys at St. Theresa, resulting in the 2008 lawsuit.[7]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Curtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who. Vol. XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.
- ^ "Frank Holten Sr". ESLARP's Social History Project. Archived from the original on 2010-01-22.
- ^ a b c d "Bishop Albert Rudolph Zuroweste". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8131-6891-3.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
- ^ Good, Paul; Rights, United States Commission on Civil (1973). Cairo, Illinois: Racism at Floodtide. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
- ^ "Background: Wisniewski v. Diocese of Belleville". National Catholic Reporter. 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2022-06-07.