KANSAS CITY (KS)
The Leaven [Archdiocese of Kansas City KS]
July 12, 2024
By The Leaven
With deep sorrow for the suffering of victims and survivors of abuse, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas announces that former priest Dennis Schmitz, who was laicized from the priesthood in 2005, has been the subject of additional substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of minors and adults over whom he held a position of authority. Schmitz served in a number of locations and capacities in the time frame of the abuse in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including St. Joseph, Shawnee; Bishop Miege, Roeland Park; St. Mary – St. Anthony, Kansas City, Kansas; St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, Lawrence; and as vocation director for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.
In October of 2002, Schmitz was convicted of indecent liberties with a child that occurred in 1998. He was removed from parish ministry, and the church began the process of laicization. Schmitz was sentenced to 32 months in prison and was ordered to register on the Kansas Sexual Offender Registry for 25 years. In 2018, Schmitz was included in the archdiocesan list of substantiated clergy offenders: Substantiated Clergy Offenders – Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas (archkck.org).
Through this announcement, the archdiocese reaffirms its commitment to all who have been harmed by an agent of the church, to atone for the harm, and to accompany survivors using restorative processes as they work toward healing and peace.
Along with the locations listed above, Schmitz served in the following churches/schools during his parish ministry in the archdiocese:
• St. Ann, Prairie Village
• Queen of the Holy Rosary, Overland Park
• Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park
• St. Joseph, Shawnee
• Vocation Director, Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas
• St. Mary-St. Anthony, Kansas City, Kansas
• St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, Lawrence
• St. Gregory, Marysville
The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas takes all allegations of misconduct by church personnel very seriously and works to respond to survivors’ needs with urgency, respect and compassion. The Catholic Church has a zero-tolerance policy for the sexual abuse of minors, which is applied in the broadest sense of the term. We encourage anyone with knowledge about any misconduct by a church volunteer, employee, religious or clergy member — regardless of when the abuse may have occurred — to contact civil authorities first, and then call or text the archdiocese’s confidential report line at (913) 276-8703 or online at: www.archkck.org/reportabuse.