WISCONSIN
SNAP Wisconsin
Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director
CONTACT: 414.429.7259
Fr. Ireneusz Chodakowski, pastor of St. Peter Catholic Church in Kenosha, has been permanently removed from his parish by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and is under police investigation.
According to the Kenosha News, an employee of the parish allegedly confronted Chodakowski about pornography being posted through his Facebook page, to or seen by minors.
While the police will not comment on what, exactly, they are investigating, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is saying that Chodakowski simply exercised “lack of good judgment” in his social media usage. How lacking? Enough for Archbishop Listecki to take the most severe, immediate action he could take against him.
Despite being under investigation and fired from his parish, Chodakowski was back posting on his Facebook page again today.
Chodakowski, a native of Poland, is a member of the Massachusetts based religious order, Marians of the Immaculate Conception (“MIC”). He was recruited and officially assigned to run St. Peter’s parish and grade school by Listecki in 2010.
Chodakowski, according to a profile posted on the order’s website, has worked as a priest in Poland and England. More recently, he was pastor of St. Louis Catholic Church in Portland, Maine from 1998-2009 where, according to the parish website, he was assigned to Thomson, Connecticut. The MIC’s operate Marianapolis Prep School in Thomson.
As is typical with the Milwaukee Archdiocese, while they have removed Chodakowski from his post and are freely pontificating on this case, they also claim to allegedly have no information or authority over Chodakowski because he is a religious order priest. Over half the priests working or living in the Milwaukee Archdiocese under Listecki belong to religious orders. Ironically, the website for St. Peter’s Parish in Kenosha states: “We are associated with other Catholic parishes under the direction of the Archbishop of Milwaukee.” Perhaps the Archbishop should inform the parish that this is, in fact, not the case.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.