The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas has formally decreed that Phil Baniewicz, the former president of Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park, is unfit for employment and other activities involving minors and vulnerable persons within the archdiocese.
The determination, announced in a statement on the archdiocese’s website on Thursday, comes more than a year after the Bishop Miege board voted to fire Baniewicz following an “allegation of inappropriate behavior with a minor.”
The archdiocese said the ministerial restrictions on Baniewicz, which include full employment, volunteering or ministry involving minors and other vulnerable persons, were promulgated through a canonical decree on Aug. 13.
“The protection of minors and persons in vulnerable situations is fundamental to the mission of our church,” Archbishop Shawn McKnight is quoted in the archdiocese’s statement. “As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we have a sacred responsibility to safeguard the innate human dignity of every person and to hold one another, especially those who exercise authority and power in the Church, to the high moral standards of our faith.”
Archdiocese investigation began last summer
On June 5, 2025, the Bishop Miege board put Baniewicz on administrative leave due to “recent reports concerning his ability to oversee a safe environment for BMHS,” according to the archdiocese.
Nearly two weeks later, on June 17, 2025, the archdiocese announced Baniewicz would be “restricted from all active ministry,” including being barred from doing any youth ministry or volunteering at any church school or institution, and put on a safety plan, following “an allegation of inappropriate behavior with a minor” that had previously gone unreported.
As part of the safety plan, Baniewicz agreed not to contact “anyone known to have made an accusation of abuse or misconduct against him, or who may be a witness known to him,” the archdiocese announced.
Ultimately, the Bishop Miege board voted to fire Baniewicz, effective Aug. 6, 2025, but an independent investigation into his conduct continued.
Earlier this year, the archdiocese appointed Michael Riley, a longtime teacher and administrator at Catholic schools in the area, as Bishop Miege’s new president.
“16 distinct allegations”
In its statement this week, the archdiocese said the independent investigation covered “16 distinct allegations” involving Baniewicz, dating back to the mid-1980s.
The allegations included reviews of reports that occurred during Baniewicz’s time as a youth minister in Mesa, Arizona, from 1985 to 1993; as a senior officer of Life Teen, Inc, from 1993 to 2006; as president of Maur Hill Mount Academy in Atchison, Kansas, from 2010 to 2023; and as president of Miege from 2023 to 2025.
In 2005, Baniewicz was named in a civil sexual abuse lawsuit in Arizona, along with two priests involved with the Catholic youth program Life Teen. That case was settled out of court for $100,000.
Baniewicz served nearly 15 years as president of Maur Hill-Mount Academy in Atchison, Kansas, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The archdiocese said the investigation was led by a professional investigative firm and included 68 interviews, as well as “review and analysis of extensive records and reports.”
The investigators also worked with the Kansas City-based Child Protection Center to help with interviews with alleged victims of abuse or violence as minors.
The archdiocese said it also cooperated with local law enforcement and the Kansas Department for Children and Families throughout the investigation.
Baniewicz himself was interviewed and submitted a written statement as part of the investigation, the archdiocese said.
No criminal charges have been filed
The archdiocese’s pronouncement remains an ecclesiastical matter, barring Baniewicz from working with minors or other vulnerable populations within the KCK Archdiocese.
The archdiocesan statement noted that no criminal charges have been filed against Baniewicz.
Still, the investigation uncovered “serious concerns regarding [Baniewicz’s] conduct,” the archdiocese said.
Investigators found a “consistent pattern of imprudent professional conduct, repeated failures to maintain appropriate ministerial and professional boundaries with minors, deficient safeguarding practices, and conduct incompatible with the standards expected of those entrusted with ecclesiastical service involving children and vulnerable people.”
The Archdiocese’s statement ends by urging anyone with information regarding misconduct by any church volunteer, employee or clergy member to call or text the Archdiocese’s confidential report line at 913-276-8703 or report online at www.archkck.org/reportabuse.
