A Chicago priest is accused of sexually abusing a minor in the early 1990s, the Archdiocese of Chicago said.
Father Ronald Kondziolka, who has served in parishes and as a hospital chaplain throughout the Chicago area for decades, allegedly abused a child more than 40 years ago while working at St. Brendan’s Catholic Church. The now closed church once stood at Marquette Road and Racine Avenue in the Englewood neighborhood.
Cardinal Blase Cupich alerted the parishes and health care entites where Kondziolka worked in a letter Saturday. The letter offers no details on the allegations or an exact time frame for when the abuse happened.
Cupich said Kondziolka “strenuously” denies the allegations.
The letters were sent to Souls Parish, Mother of the Americas Parish, Our Lady of the Heights Parish, Our Lady of Unity Parish, St. Anthony of Padua Parish, St. Benedict the African Parish, St. John Neumann Parish, St. Veronica Parish and Franciscan Health Alliance.
Cupich said in the letter he told Kondziolka to remain out of ministry and refrain from all parish and school activities. Kondziolka’s most recent post was as an associate pastor at St. Veronica Parish in Flossmoor until June 2023.
Kondziolka’s other posts included:
- Assistant pastor at Assumption BVM Parish from May 1976 to June 1981
- Associate pastor at S. Martin Parish from June 1981 to January 1983
- Administrator at St. Brendan Parish from January 1983 to March 1986
- Resident at St. Paul Parish in Chicago Heights from March 1986 to November 1987
- Resident at St. Agnes Parish in Chicago Heights from November 1987 to March 1990
- Chaplain at St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights from March 1990 to August 2019
- Resident at St. James Parish in Sauk Village from March 1990 to April 1993
- Resident at Holy Rosary in Chicago from March 1997 to February 2006
- Resident at St. Anthony of Padua Parish from February 2006 to August 2019
- Chaplain at St. James Hospital and Health Care Centers in Olympia Fields from July 2009 to June 2021
- Resident, administrator and associate pastor at Infant Jesus of Prague Parish from September 2019 to June 2021
- Administrator at St. Joseph Parish in Homewood from July 2021 to June 2022