Exclusion from public worship services

Exclusion from public worship services

Bishop in prayer © Harald Oppitz (KNA)

The Vatican has imposed disciplinary sanctions on two Polish bishops for failures to deal with abuse cases in the Catholic Church. Among other things, they are banned from attending public religious services.

Former Gdansk Archbishop Slawoj Leszek Glodz, 75, and the bishop of Kalisch (Kalisz), Edward Janiak, 68, who was suspended by Pope Francis in 2020 and later resigned, were also banned from attending "secular gatherings" in their former dioceses, the Vatican embassy in Warsaw said Monday.

In addition, both clergy must live outside their dioceses and each pay an "appropriate sum" to the Saint Joseph Foundation. The foundation, established by Poland's bishops' conference, promotes preventive measures against sexual violence and helps victims of abuse.

No information on specific errors

The message did not give any details about concrete mistakes made by the two bishops. She also did not name the amounts they have to pay to the church foundation. In each case, the punishments were the result of a completed investigation into alleged failures by bishops in cases of clergy sex abuse of children, as well as other ies related to the administration of their dioceses, the embassy explained, on the other hand.

Glodz was a bishop from 2008 until his 75th birthday. Birthday in August 2020 Archbishop in the Baltic city of Gdansk (Gdansk). In the fall, the Vatican had asked Warsaw Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz to investigate whether Glodz had neglected measures against child sexual abuse.

Already in October 2019, 16 priests of the archdiocese had complained in a joint letter to the papal ambassador in Warsaw, among other things, that the local bishop at the time had covered up charges of sexual harassment against priests.

Glodz denied the allegations. He had complied with the regulations and had shown "no slowness" in relevant proceedings against clerics. According to media reports, priests and lay people had complained unsuccessfully for many years about "inaction" by Glodz.

Documentary film got the ball rolling

Janiak had been granted leave by Pope Francis in June 2020. In October, the pope accepted the complete resignation of Janiak as bishop of Kalisch. The documentary film "The game of hide and seek" got the ball rolling. The mother and father of a boy who was sexually abused by a clergyman had their conversation with Janiak recorded. In the documentary you can hear how the bishop at that time defended the priest against the abuse allegations and turned away the parents.

The film "The Hiding Game" is director Tomasz Sekielski's second widely acclaimed documentary about child abuse in the Catholic Church in Poland.

After the first documentary "Just don't tell anyone" 2019 Poland's Catholic bishops had admitted failures to protect children from sexual abuse. "We confess that as shepherds of the church we have not done everything possible to prevent suffering," they declared in a message to the faithful read in churches at the time.

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Christina Cherry
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