BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News
August 29, 2018
By Jay Tokasz
Exhibit A in the blockbuster Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse is an Erie priest who grew up in Dunkirk and originally wanted to join the Buffalo Diocese priesthood.
The Rev. Chester J. Gawronski admitted possibly molesting as many as 41 boys, sometimes under the guise of teaching them how to perform a “cancer check,” according to the report. It goes on to describe how church leaders concealed the abuses for nearly two decades and allowed Gawronski to continue to serve in churches.
The grand jury report, released last week, found that 300 priests had abused more than 1,000 children in six dioceses across Pennsylvania.
Gawronski’s case is featured prominently in the report, with several references to secret church documents about his history of abuse that were obtained through a 2016 subpoena.
Gawronski, 69, who now lives in Arizona, is part of a large Catholic family that was active in St. Mary Church, now known as St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, in Dunkirk. Gawronski was especially involved in the parish: In 1968, the year he graduated from Cardinal Mindszenty High School, he received the church’s “Outstanding Catholic Youth Award.”
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