William M. Joensen

William Michael Joensen (born July 8, 1960) is an American Catholic Prelate who has been serving as the bishop of the Diocese of Des Moines in Iowa since 2019.

Biography Early life and education William Joensen was born on July 8, 1960, in Waterloo, Iowa to Alfred W. Joensen and Marilyn E. (née Simington) Joensen. He is the eldest of five children and grew up in Ames, Iowa. Joensen received a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. He was attending medical school at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, when he decided instead to study for the priesthood. Joensen's seminary education was at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.

Priesthood On June 24, 1989, Joensen was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Dubuque by Archbishop Daniel Kucera in the Church of the Nativity in Dubuque.

After his 1989 ordination, the archdiocese assigned him as associate pastor of Sacred Heart Parish and faculty member of Columbus High School, both in Waterloo, Iowa. He left these two posts in 1992 to become associate pastor of the Church of the Resurrection Parish in Dubuque. Joensen in 1995 went to Washington D.C. to attend the Catholic University of America, where he earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 2001. Archbishop Michael Jackels was the consecrator, with Bishop R. Walker Nickless and Bishop Thomas Zinkula as the co-consecrators.