Iowa pastor found dead in apparent suicide amid ‘acute mental health crisis’

A diocesan priest in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was found dead Nov. 26, having apparently taken his own life.

Archbishop Thomas R. Zinkula of Dubuque released a message Nov. 27 stating “with a heavy heart” that Father Dennis Conway, pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Cedar Rapids, had died in the rectory “by way of suicide.”

“Based on correspondence near the time of his death, Fr. Dennis clearly was suffering from an acute mental health crisis,” said Archbishop Zinkula in his message.

The archbishop noted that “given the circumstances of Fr. Dennis’ death, there will be an autopsy, which may take some time due to the Thanksgiving holiday.”

“We will inform you of the funeral arrangements when they have been made,” said Archbishop Zinkula.

He urged those experiencing a mental health crisis to seek assistance through resources such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Hotline) and Catholic Charities.

“Please reach out for help when you are struggling with a heavy burden,” said the archbishop. “In the Sacred Scripture we hear over and over again, ‘Do not be afraid.’ And at the end of the Gospel of St. Matthew, after commissioning the disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, Jesus tells them, ‘I am with you always, until the end of the age.'”

Archbishop Zinkula added, “In the meantime, let’s pray for Fr. Dennis and his family, and his parishioners, and all who struggle with Mental health concerns. God bless you all.”

In an interview ahead of his 2017 priestly ordination, then 26-year-old Deacon Conway said he was “looking forward to … helping people remove the burdens they carry and experience the love of God in the sacrament of reconciliation,” as well as “praying with people and helping them to see how God is at work in their life.”

“It seems like people have a hard time seeing that sometimes and hopefully my own prayer and experiences will allow me to help others to see God’s hand in the world,” the deacon told The Witness, the former newspaper of the Archdiocese of Dubuque.

He cited his grandmother — who suffered for 30 years with a degenerative disease but remained ardent in her practice of the faith — as “especially influential.”

“She has shown me very clearly that the struggles of life only make sense in light of Christ and that there is joy even in the midst of great suffering,” he said in the interview.

Born in Alabama, Father Conway grew up in Cedar Rapids at All Saints Parish and graduated from Xavier High School. He spent one year at Marquette University in Milwaukee before enrolling in St. Pius X Seminary at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. He continued formation at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University.

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