Illinois pastor, seminarian dismissed after admitting sexual relationship, drug use

An Illinois pastor has resigned after admitting to a long-running sexual relationship with a transitional deacon that included the use of illegal drugs.

In a Nov. 17 letter to parishioners, Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., revealed that Father Piotr Kosk had admitted to an affair with diocesan seminarian Deacon Stefan Kaniewski.

Father Kosk — who had been pastor of the combined parishes of St. Mary in Taylorville, St. Rita in Kincaid and Holy Trinity in Stonington — began the relationship shortly after his priestly ordination, and before the seminarian’s diaconal ordination, said Bishop Paprocki in his letter.

In the interim, Father John Burnette — whom Bishop Paprocki described as “one of our very experienced senior priests” — will oversee the parishes until a new pastor is assigned.

The bishop encouraged those “with pertinent information or concerns about Father Kosk to speak with one of our representatives … or to make a report” to the diocese’s Special Panel on Clergy Misconduct. He included in his letter the phone number and email address for the diocesan Report Misconduct Hotline, through which instances of suspected “financial misconduct or adult sexual misconduct committed by priests, deacons, or lay employees of the Church” can be filed.

Father Kosk and Deacon Kaniewski both admitted to their relationship, which “involved habitual violations of the sixth commandment over the course of multiple years, along with the use of illegal drugs,” Bishop Paprocki said.

He said that the deacon had “signed a letter to the Holy Father requesting dispensation from the clerical state.”

In addition, said Bishop Paprocki, “Father Kosk has also submitted his resignation to me as pastor … and as chaplain of the Taylorville Correctional Center, which I have accepted.”

The bishop noted that prior to the resignations, he had “initiated a canonical investigation to look into these matters as well as possible financial misconduct.”

Asked by OSV News for details regarding the potential financial malfeasance, diocesan communications director Andrew Hansen told OSV News in a Nov. 26 email, “We are continuing to look into it.”

According to an Oct. 20 parish bulletin for St. Paul Catholic Church in Highland, Ill., Father Kosk and Deacon Kaniewski were set to give a Nov. 9 presentation on a July 28-Aug. 7 pilgrimage they had led to Poland and Prague, accompanied by at least two families. According to the April 12 livestream of Deacon Kaniewski’s ordination Mass, St. Paul was his sponsoring parish.

Bishop Paprocki warned in his letter that “based on the gravity and nature of the preliminary findings and the respective responses of Deacon Kaniewski and Father Kosk after being confronted with the findings, this canonical process will likely lead to strict penalties and sanctions as well as my petition to the Holy See for Father Kosk’s dismissal from the clerical state.”

Bishop Paprocki told parishioners that he was “aware that the information that I am sharing with you is both shocking and scandalous.”

“Please know that I share your surprise and dismay,” he said. “I know that many of you, like me, saw Father Kosk as a good and holy priest. A deep and sacred trust has been violated.”

At the same time, he urged parishioners to rely on divine assistance amid the pastoral crisis.

“We recognize that we are all sinners in need of God’s mercy,” said the bishop. “We must pray for each other and for Father Kosk and Deacon Kaniewski as we seek healing and restoration of trust and peace in this community.”

In a May 2023 article for the Catholic Times, the magazine of the Diocese of Springfield, the Polish-born Father Kosk said that during his 2020 priestly ordination, which took place amid COVID restrictions, he “cried three times” as part of what he called “the most beautiful moment of my life.”

OSV News has contacted both Father Kosk and Deacon Kaniewski, who studied at St. Meinrad Seminary in St. Meinrad, Ind., and is awaiting a response to its request for comment.