Rev. Michael A. Paraniuk

Assignment Record– Rev. Michael A. Paraniuk

Summary of Case: Michael A. Parniuk was ordained for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 1981. After several years as an assistant at Our Lady of Visitation, Paraniuk was assigned to St. Bernard's in Winton Place, where he served until 2005. He was also was a long-time hospital chaplain at Cincinnati Children's, among other hospitals. In 1995 a man came forward to allege that Paraniuk sexually abused him in 1983, when the man was a young teen. Paraniuk denied the allegation; the archdiocese investigated and said the claim could not be substantiated. The man came forward with the allegation again in 2004, after the archdiocese was indicted for not reporting clergy sex abuse. The man subsequently received money from the archdiocese's victims' compensation fund and, as a result, Paraniuk was suspended from active ministry in March 2005. The archdiocese again investigated the man's claim, again deemed it unsubstantiated, and Paraniuk was returned to ministry. He was named pastor of St. Mary's in Hillsboro and in 2009 became pastor also of St. Benignus in Greenfield. In 2016 he remained at both parishes.

Ordained: 1981

Start	Stop	Assignments	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1981 Archdiocese of Cincinnati Archbishop was Joseph Louis Bernardin (1972-1982), followed by Daniel Edward Pilarczyk (1982-2009).	1984	Our Lady of Visitation	Cincinnati • Paraniuk was accused in 1995 of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy in 1983, in a private home. His accuser came forward again in 2004.	OH	2/3	Our Lady of Visitation had a school with 588-552 students. Paraniuk denied the allegations and the archdiocese said they could not be substantiated.
1984	1985					Paraniuk is not indexed in the 1985 Directory.
1985	2005	St. Bernard's	Cincinnati (Winton Place)	OH	2/2	St. Bernard's had a CCD program with 14-49 students.
1990	1996	Providence Hospital	Cincinnati	OH	chaplain
1993	1996	The St. Francis-St. George Hospital	Cincinnati	OH	chaplain
1996	1997	Franciscan Hospital, Western Hills Campus	Cincinnati	OH	chaplain
1996	2007	Franciscan Hospital, Mnt. Airy Campus/Mercy Franciscan Hospital/Mercy Hospitals West	Cincinnati	OH	chaplain
1984	2005	Children's Hospital	Cincinnati	OH	chaplain
	2005	Fire Department	Cincinnati	OH	chaplain	Paraniuk was suspended from ministry in March 2005 after a man accusing him of having abused him as a boy in 1983 received money from the archdiocese's victims' compensation fund. The fund was part of an agreement with prosecutors after the archdiocese was indicted for failing to report clergy sex abuse. Paraniuk was reinstated in October 2005 after an archdiocesan investigation.
2005 Pilarczyk was was succeeded as Cincinnati archbishop by Dennis Marion Schnurr (2009-).	2016	St. Mary's	Hillsboro	OH	1/1	St. Mary's had a school with 42-66 students, and a CCD program with 60-90 students.
2009	2016	St. Benignus	Greenfield	OH	1/1	St. Benignus had a CCD program with 70-27 students.

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.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (Kenedy & Sons, 1982-2016).

• Three Priests Suspended, By Dan Horn, Cincinnati.com, March 9, 2005
• Suspended Priest Proclaims His Innocence, ChannelCincinnati.com, March 10, 2005
• Pilarczyk Suspends 3 More Priests, By Dan Horn, Cincinnati Enquirer, March 10, 2005
• Suspended Priest Relieved From FD Duties, WCPO, March 10, 2005
• Three Priests Placed on Administrative Leave; All Deny Allegations,By Tricia Hempel, Catholic Telegraph, March 16, 3005
• Some Say Cincinnati Archbishop Waited Too Long to Suspend Priests, By John Nolan, Beacon Journal (AP), March 19, 2005
• 2 Priests Restored, Others Permanently Removed, Archdiocese of Cincinnati Press Release, October 12, 2005
• 2 Priests Cleared of Charges, By Dan Horn, Cincinnati Enquirer, OCtober 13, 2005
• Former Area Priest Defrocked, By Jim Bebbington, Dayton Daily News, October 13, 2005

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 Paraniuk'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 January 30, 2017.