Jerome George Hanus,

O.S.B. , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

(born May 26, 1940) is an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, presiding as archbishop of the

Archdiocese of Dubuque The Archdiocese of Dubuque ( la, Archidiœcesis Dubuquensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the northeastern quarter of the state of Iowa in the United States. It includes all the Iowa count ...

in Iowa from 1995 until 2013. A member of the

Order of Saint Benedict , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

, Hanus served as abbot of

Conception Abbey Conception Abbey, site of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, is a monastery of the Swiss-American Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. The monastery, founded by the Swiss Engelberg Abbey in 1873 in northwest Missouri's Nodaway ...

from 1977 to 1987. He also served as bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud in Minnesota from 1987 to 1994 and

coadjutor archbishop The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coad ...

of the Archdiocese of Dubuque from 1994 to 1995.

Biography

Early life and education

George Hanus was born on May 26, 1940, in Brainard, Nebraska, to Leo A. and Kristine (née Polak) Hanus. The third of eight children, he has three brothers and four sisters. He received his early education at parochial schools in

Dwight, Nebraska Dwight is a village in Butler County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 204 at the 2010 census. History Dwight was started in 1887 when the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad was extended to that point. The fact that a large ...

, and

Bellwood, Nebraska Bellwood is a village in Butler County, Nebraska, Butler County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 435 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History Bellwood was laid out in 1890 when the railroad was extended to that point. I ...

, Hanus graduated from St. John Vianney Seminary in Elkhorn, Nebraska in 1958. Hanus joined the

, at Conception Abbey in Conception,

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. He made his

profession A profession is a field of work that has been successfully ''professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, '' professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by ...

as a Benedictine monk on September 1, 1961, taking the name Jerome. Hanus studied at Conception Seminary College in Conception, Missouri, where he earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in 1963. He continued his studies at the Pontifical University of St. Anselm in Rome, receiving a Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1967.

Priesthood

Hanus was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood in the Order of Saint Benedict by Archbishop Gerald Bergan on July 30, 1966.After his ordination, Hanus taught scholastic theology at Conception Seminary College from 1967 to 1969. He studied moral theology at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, earning a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

degree in 1972. Hanus then returned to Conception Seminary, where he served as professor of religion from 1973 to 1976. From 1974 to 1976, Hanus was an adjunct professor of

moral theology Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''"Ethics"/ref> A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply sati ...

at the Pontifical University of St. Anselm. Hanus was elected the sixth

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

of Conception Abbey on January 5, 1977, and received the abbatial blessing the next day. In addition to his role as abbot, he served as abbot president of the Swiss-American Congregation, to which the abbey belongs, from 1984 to 1987.

Bishop of Saint Cloud

On July 6, 1987,

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed Jerome as the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud. He was consecrated on August 24, 1987, by Archbishop John Roach. Bishops John Sullivan and George Speltz were the principal co-consecrators.

Archbishop of Dubuque

On August 23, 1994, John Paul II appointed Hanus as the coadjutor archbishop of the Diocese of Dubuque. He was installed on October 27, 1994. In 1995, Archbishop Daniel Kucera sent his letter of resignation as archbishop of Dubuque to Pope John II, On October 16, 1995, Hanus automatically succeeded Kucera as the 11th bishop and 9th archbishop of Dubuque. As archbishop, Hanus implemented a strategic planning process throughout the archdiocese. He spoke to people in the archdiocese via videotaped messages played at mass in all the parishes. Parishioners were given opportunities to respond and express their own views. Hanus then issued a

vision statement A vision statement is an inspirational statement of an idealistic emotional future of a company or group. Vision describes the basic human emotion that a founder intends to be experienced by the people the organization interacts with. The Infinit ...

, which spelled out his plans for the archdiocese. These plans included an increased role for the laity in leadership roles, necessitated by the

priest shortage In the years since World War II there has been a substantial reduction in the number of priests ''per capita'' in the Catholic Church, a phenomenon considered by many to constitute a "shortage" in the number of priests. From 1980 to 2012, the ratio ...

and the changing demographics of the archdiocese. These conditions also forced Hanus to combine and close a number of parishes. On February 1, 2006, Hanus announced a $5 million legal settlement for 26 victims of sexual abuse by priests in the 1950s and 1960s in the archdiocese. Six deceased priests were mentioned in the document; the one living priest who was listed has since been

laicized In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the loss of clerical state (commonly referred to as laicization, dismissal, defrocking, and degradation) is the removal of a bishop, priest, or deacon from the status of being a member of the clergy. The t ...

. On May 12, 2008,

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration th ...

raided the Agriprocessors meat packing plant in

Postville, Iowa Postville is a village in Allamakee and Clayton counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. It lies near the junction of four counties and at the intersection of U.S. Routes 18 and 52 and Iowa Highway 51, with airport facilities in the neighboring co ...

, detaining 398 employees who were overwhelmingly of Latino descent. In the wake of the raid, Hanus called for comprehensive immigration reform. He called on those attending at a prayer service to remember the

scriptures Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pra ...

"to treat the alien in your midst like your brother or sister, and that when you receive the alien, the foreigner, you are welcoming Christ." In February 2012. Hanus suffered serious chest injuries when his car rolled over twice in a crash. Those injuries caused recurring body spasms that required hospitalizations and resulted in more arthritic pain.

Retirement and legacy

Hanus submitted his resignation as archbishop for health reasons, which Pope Francis accepted. On April 8, 2013, Hanus announced that Francis had appointed Bishop Michael Jackels of the Diocese of

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

to succeed him. Hanus acted as

apostolic administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic adm ...

for the archdiocese until Jackels was installed on May 30, after which he resumed his life as a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

. In April 2013, Hanus was scheduled to make a deposition in two

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

lawsuits against Conception Abbey. The plaintiffs were two Missouri men who claimed that in the 1980s Bede Parry, a priest at the abbey, had abused them as boys. Hanus served as abbot of Conception Abbey during that period. The lawsuits claimed that Hanus met with Perry in 1981, before the alleged abuses occurred. In that meeting, Perry confessed to "inappropriate sexual relationships" with minors. Hanus ordered Perry to undergo psychological counseling, but allowed him to continue as the youth choir director. According to Perry, Hanus told him not to do it again.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque Official Site

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanus, Jerome 1940 births Living people American Benedictines Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm alumni Princeton University alumni Academic staff of the Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm Benedictine abbots Benedictine bishops 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Thailand 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Roman Catholic bishops of Saint Cloud Roman Catholic archbishops of Dubuque People from Butler County, Nebraska Catholics from Nebraska