Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Fr. Alexander Sylvester Baranowski

This page outlines the assignments, publicly reported allegations of child sexual abuse, and documented institutional actions involving Fr. Alexander Sylvester Baranowski, as part of the Injury Lawyer Team’s legal representation of survivors in Illinois clergy abuse cases.

• Primary Entity Name: Alexander Sylvester Baranowski
• Common Variations / Aliases: Father Alexander Baranowski, Fr. Alexander Baranowski, Alexander S. Baranowski
• Role/Title at Time of Incident: Parish Priest, Associate Pastor
• Current Status: Deceased

Public Identification and Clergy Status

Fr. Alexander Sylvester Baranowski was publicly identified as a Catholic priest with substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse through official disclosures by the Archdiocese of Chicago and a statewide investigation conducted by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

The Archdiocese of Chicago included Baranowski on its public list of clergy with substantiated allegations following an internal review of historical complaints and personnel records. He was later named in the Illinois Attorney General’s 2023 Report on Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse, which examined how dioceses across Illinois handled allegations and publicly identified clergy with credible or substantiated claims.

Public records indicate that the allegations attributed to Baranowski involve sexual abuse of minors during his time in parish ministry in Illinois. The Archdiocese later determined that the allegations met its internal substantiation standard following retrospective review.

Entity that listed him: Archdiocese of Chicago; Illinois Attorney General’s Office (2023 Clergy Abuse Report)

Reason for listing: Substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse identified through diocesan internal review and confirmed through a statewide government investigation

Key Status Facts

• Ordination Year: 1955
• Years in Active Ministry: 1955–1975
• Locations Where He Served: Illinois, including parish assignments within the Archdiocese of Chicago
• Reported Survivors: At least seven, as reflected in the Illinois Attorney General’s reporting
• Restrictions: Available public summaries do not describe specific ministerial restrictions prior to his resignation
• Removal, Resignation, Reassignment: Resigned from the priesthood in 1975
• Laicization: Laicized in 1976
• Died: 2011
• Public Disclosure / Listing Date: Publicly listed by the Archdiocese of Chicago on March 20, 2006

Assignment History

Primary Archdiocese: Archdiocese of Chicago

Illinois Parish Assignments (as reflected in public reporting and state records):

• St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Chicago, Illinois
• St. Mary of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Chicago, Illinois
• Holy Innocents Catholic Church in Chicago, Illinois
• St. Bruno Catholic Church in Chicago, Illinois

Public records do not consistently provide exact date ranges for each parish assignment. These parishes establish the ministerial settings relevant to the period during which allegations of sexual abuse were later reported, including parish and school-related environments in Chicago.

Non-Church Assignments: No publicly documented non-parish assignments, such as hospitals, external youth organizations, or chaplaincies, have been identified in available disclosures.

Known Allegations

Fr. Alexander Sylvester Baranowski has been identified in public records as the subject of multiple allegations of child sexual abuse connected to his service in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Publicly released Church records and statewide reporting indicate that the alleged misconduct involved minors and occurred during the early years of his priesthood.

The Illinois Attorney General’s clergy abuse reporting indicates that alleged abuse occurred during the period between approximately 1955 and 1966, with reported locations including Chicago, Illinois, and Springfield, Illinois. Some allegations pertain to parish and school settings, including St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church and its affiliated grammar school in Chicago.

Diocesan summaries indicate that concerns regarding Baranowski’s conduct were reported to Church authorities as early as 1963, when a parent raised concerns about an inappropriate relationship involving a minor. Public reporting and later reviews indicate that additional allegations emerged over time, and the Attorney General’s report identifies at least seven reported survivors associated with Baranowski.

In 2013, two men filed a civil lawsuit alleging that Baranowski sexually abused them during overnight trips in 1961 and 1962, when they were students at St. Wenceslaus grammar school in Chicago. The lawsuit named both Baranowski and the Archdiocese of Chicago and alleged abuse occurring outside the parish setting during unsupervised travel.

Following review of available records, the Archdiocese of Chicago categorized the allegations against Baranowski as substantiated following retrospective review, indicating that the claims met its internal evidentiary standards.

Summary: Public Church disclosures and the Illinois Attorney General’s reporting describe Fr. Alexander Sylvester Baranowski as a priest with substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse, involving multiple reported survivors and occurring in Illinois during the 1955–1966 period.

Overseeing Authority During Key Periods: Oversight during the relevant time frame fell under the leadership of the Archdiocese of Chicago and its chancery administration during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Public summaries do not consistently identify a single named Church official responsible for handling the allegations when they were first reported.

Legal / Advocacy Bodies Referenced: Illinois Attorney General’s Office (2023 clergy abuse report and abuser list)

Institutional Actions and Review

Publicly released Church records and government summaries indicate that allegations involving Fr. Alexander Sylvester Baranowski were reviewed by the Archdiocese of Chicago many years after the alleged misconduct occurred. Although diocesan summaries indicate that concerns were reported to Church authorities as early as 1963, available public records do not document contemporaneous disciplinary action or formal ministerial restrictions during his active years.

Baranowski resigned from the priesthood in 1975 and was laicized in 1976. Public disclosures do not establish that his resignation was accompanied by parish-level notifications regarding allegations of sexual abuse, nor do they indicate that information about reported concerns was shared during parish assignments before he departed from ministry.

Decades later, the Archdiocese conducted retrospective reviews of historical allegations and personnel files. As a result of this process, Baranowski was placed on the Archdiocese’s public list of clergy with substantiated allegations in 2006. His case was later included in the Illinois Attorney General’s statewide investigation, which examined institutional responses to clergy abuse and publicly identified accused clergy.

As reflected in public reporting, disclosure of the allegations did not occur contemporaneously with the alleged abuse but followed later institutional review and public reporting, including publication on the statewide list of accused clergy in Illinois.

Timeline

1955 — Ordained in the Archdiocese of Chicago

1955–1966 — Period during which alleged sexual abuse was reported to have occurred in Illinois

1961–1962 — Alleged abuse reported during overnight trips involving students from St. Wenceslaus grammar school

1963 — Concerns regarding inappropriate conduct reportedly raised with Church authorities

1975 — Resigned from the priesthood

1976 — Laicized

March 20, 2006 — Publicly listed by the Archdiocese of Chicago following internal review

2011 — Died

2013 — Civil lawsuit filed alleging abuse during the early 1960s

2023 — Named in the Illinois Attorney General’s statewide clergy abuse report

Speak With an Attorney

If you or someone you know was sexually abused by Fr. Alexander Sylvester Baranowski or by any Catholic clergy member in Illinois, you may still have legal options available. The Injury Lawyer Team represents survivors of clergy abuse throughout the state and offers confidential consultations.

You can contact our team to speak privately with an Illinois clergy abuse attorney who can help you understand your rights, evaluate your situation, and determine whether legal action may be appropriate.

Sources and Public Records

This page is based on public records, official Church disclosures, legal filings, and survivor reports, including the following:

• The Illinois Attorney General’s Clergy Abuse Reporting database, which lists Fr. Alexander Sylvester Baranowski among clergy publicly identified through a statewide investigation and includes details regarding reported abuse, survivor counts, diocesan determinations, and disclosure dates.
• Personnel and disclosure records released by the Archdiocese of Chicago, consisting of internal Church documents made public as part of the Archdiocese’s document publication process and relating to allegations, reviews, and institutional actions involving Fr. Baranowski.
• BishopAccountability.org, an independent archive that compiles diocesan disclosures, public records, and investigative reporting related to clergy abuse cases in the United States, including entries referencing Fr. Alexander Sylvester Baranowski.

No criminal conviction is implied unless explicitly stated in public court records or official Church reports.

All content undergoes thorough legal review by experienced attorneys, including Jonathan Rosenfeld. With 25 years of experience in personal injury law and over 100 years of combined legal expertise within our team, we ensure that every article is legally accurate, compliant, and reflects current legal standards.