Vatican sanctions Polish archbishop over sexual child abuse case, bans from gatherings

In the latest series of such similar moves in the country, the Vatican has sanctioned a retired Polish archbishop for covering up child sexual abuse, the archdiocese in Wroclaw said on 22 August 2021. The Catholic Church authorities in Poland say that the Vatican is punished Marian Golebiewski after reviewing reports of alleged negligence by the former head. As per The Associated Press, the probe, under which the retired archbishop was sanctioned, covered the years from 1996 to 2004 when Golebiewski was head of the Koszalin diocese. The investigation also covered 2004 to 2013 when he led the Wroclaw archdiocese.

As a result of the inquiry, the Vatican has now banned the 83-year-old Golebiewski from appearing at any public religious or lay ceremonies. The authorities have also directed him to donate, from his pocket to a foundation preventing sexual abuse and assisting its victims. Reportedly, he is also ordered to pray and repent. 

“In the wake of formal notifications, the Holy See carried out proceedings regarding Archbishop Marian Golebiewski’s reported negligence in cases of sexual abuse of minors by certain priests,” the archdiocese said in a statement.

Dozens of clergy members accused 

The report by the people who say that they have been victims of abuse by the priests has accused at least two dozen serving and retired Polish bishops and archbishops of protecting the ‘predator priests.’ The report was delivered to Pope Francis on the eve of his 2019 global abuse prevention summit at the Vatican. In recent years, the Church has been rocked by a series of abuse scandals while also having a prominent influence in the Polish political scene. 

Since 2020, the Vatican has announced sanctions against seven other Polish bishops who are accused of covering the abuses, along with a cardinal. In July, the state committee on paedophilia announced that at least a third of the 345 child sexual abuse cases committed and examined between the period 2017 to 2020 involved the clergy members. Set up only in 2019, the committee reportedly said that it had not received any answer to its requests for the documentation from the Polish Catholic Church. 

IMAGE: AP