Rev. Michael M. Lewandowski, O.F.M.Conv.

Assignment History – Rev. Michael M. Lewandowski, O.F.M.Conv.

Summary of Case: Michael M. Lewandowski was ordained in 1975 for the Conventual Franciscans of Our Lady of the Angels Province in Ellicott City, MD. He worked as a teacher and athletics coach at two high schools in the Diocese of Buffalo until 1991, after which there is an unexplained gap in his assignment history. In 1992 Lewandowski was assigned to assist at a Springfield MA parish before assuming the role of pastor of another in 1994. He moved in 1997 to the Altoona-Johnstown diocese where he began a 17-year run as pastor at St. Anne's in Davidsville.

Lewandowski was removed from public ministry in May 2014 after his Order received an allegation that he had sexually abused a minor in the 1980s.

Ordained: 1975

Start	Stop	Assignments	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1975 Diocese of Buffalo Bishop was Edward Dennis Head (1973-1995).	1982	St. Francis High School	Athol Springs	NY	teacher, athletic coach	St. Francis High had 475-642 students, all male.
1982	1989	Cardinal O'Hara High School	Tonawanda • Lewandowski was removed from public ministry in May 2014 after the Order received an allegation that he had sexually abused a minor in the 1980s.	NY	teacher, athletic director, coach	Cardinal O'Hara High had 597-500 students. Few details were released. A St. Francis High School spokesman stated in 2014 that the abuse did not occur at that school.
1989	1991	St. Francis High School	Athol Springs	NY	teacher, acting athletic director, coach
1991	1992					Lewandowski is not indexed in the 1992 Directory, nor is he listed in the diocesan pages as at his previous or next assignments.
1992 Diocese of Springfield MA Bishop was John Aloysius Marshall (1991-1994).	1994	St. Stanislaus Basilica	Chickopee	MA	5/7, 5/8 1992-1993: Rev. Michael Kolodziej, O.F.M. Conv.; Stanley Sobiech, O.F.M.Conv.; Callistus Juras, O.F.M.Conv.; Michael Zielke, O.F.M.Conv.; Michael Lewandowsk, O.F.M. Conv. In res., Revs Placid Kaczorek, O.F.M.Conv.; Michael Mendola, O.F.M.Conv. 1993-1994: Rev. Michael Kolodziej, O.F.M. Conv.; Stanley Sobiech, O.F.M.Conv.; Callistus Juras, O.F.M.Conv.; Michael Zielke, O.F.M.Conv.; Michael Lewandowsk, O.F.M. Conv. In res., Revs Placid Kaczorek, O.F.M.Conv.; Michael Mendola, O.F.M.Conv.; Herbert Bologna, O.F.M.Conv.	The Basilica had a school with 480 students. Kolodzjiez was removed from ministry in Springfield MA in 2013 after an allegation that he had sexually abused a boy in Baltimore in the 1970s.
1994 Marshall was replaced as Springfield bishop by Thomas Ludger Dupré (1995-2004).	1997	St. Anthony's	Chickopee	MA	1/3, 1/2 1993-1994: Rev. Michael Lewandowski, O.F.M.Conv.; Daniel Pilachowski, O.F.M.Conv. In res., Rev. Germain Kopaczynski, O.F.M.Conv. 1994-1995: Rev. Michael Lewandowski, O.F.M.Conv.; Michael Slonecki, O.F.M.Conv.; Bro. Christian Katusz, O.F.M.Conv. 1995-1996: Rev. Michael Lewandowski, O.F.M.Conv.; Michael Slonecki, O.F.M.Conv.; Bro. Christian Katusz, O.F.M.Conv.
1997 Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown Bishop was Joseph Victor Adamec (1987-2011), followed by Mark Leonard Bartchak (2011- ).	2014	St. Anne's	Davidsville	PA	1/1, 1/3, 1/4 2002-2004: Rev. Michael Lewandowski, O.F.M.Conv. In res., Revs. Romulus Rosolowski, O.F.M.Conv.; Justin A.Ratajczak, O.F.M.Conv. 2004-2005: Rev. Michael Lewandowski, O.F.M.Conv. In res., Revs. Karl Kolodziejski, O.F.M.Conv.; Justin A.Ratajczak, O.F.M.Conv.; Daniel Fink, O.F.M.Conf. 2005-2010: Rev. Michael Lewandowski, O.F.M.Conv. In res., Revs. Karl Kolodziejski, O.F.M.Conv.; Justin A.Ratajczak, O.F.M.Conv.	St. Anne's had a catechesis program with 81-35 students. Lewandowski is not indexed beyond the 2014 Directory.

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Source: Official Catholic Directory (Kenedy & Sons, 1976-2014).

• Conventual Franciscan priest suspended from public ministry, Daily American, May 18, 2014
• Priest suspended over alleged '80s sex abuse, by Justin Dennis, Tribune-Democrat May 19, 2014
• Priest Suspended After Misconduct Allegations, We Are Central PA, May 18, 2014
• Father Lewandowski suspended due to sexual allegations with minor, by Sarah Rebb, WJAC, May 18, 2014
• Priest suspended in wake of sexual misconduct allegations, Centre Daily Times, May 19, 2014
• Priest Suspended for Child Sexual Abuse; SNAP Responds, May 19, 2014
• Priest suspended over alleged '80s sex abuse, by Justin Dennis, Tribune-Democrat, May 19, 2014
• Pennsylvania diocese suspends Franciscan priest, Washington Post (AP) , May 19, 2014
• Franciscan Friar with ties to WMass removed from ministry, iObserve, May 21, 2014
• Former Chicopee priest faces accusation fo sexual misconduct, by Jeanette Deforge, The Republican, May 21, 2014
• Fmr. Chicopee Priest Removed from Ministry After Allegations of Sexual Misconduct, WGGB, May 21, 2014
• Former Chicopee priest accused of sexual misconduct, by Barry Kriger, WWLP , May 21, 2014
• Priest who taught at 2 Buffalo area high schools was target of sex abuse complaint, by Dan Herbeck, Buffalo News, April 9, 2018
• Franciscan Friar, who taught in WNY, accused of sexual abuse, by Emily Lampa, WGRZ, April 10, 2018

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates Lewandowski's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with the allegations against him, as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegations we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on April 30, 2018.