Polish bishop to face trial for allegedly failing to inform authorities of child sex abuse by priests

Apr 4, 2024 | Law, Society

A Polish bishop will face trial after prosecutors issued an indictment against him for failing to inform law enforcement authorities about child sex abuse committed by priests under his authority. The crime carries a potential prison sentence of up to three years.

The accused is the bishop of Tarnów, but can be named by the media only as Andrzej J. under Polish privacy law. The district prosecutor’s office in Tarnów today announced that he has been indicted in relation to sexual abuse by two priests, Stanisław P. and Tomasz K.

“The findings of our investigation show that, although the church authorities submitted a notification regarding both priests, they did it too late – it did not happen immediately, as required by law,” said Mieczysław Sienicki, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.

In 2022, prosecutors discontinued an investigation into sex-abuse allegations against Stanisław P. because the statute of limitations had expired. In 2023, they did decide to bring charges against Tomasz K., but have been unable to present him with them due to the priest’s poor health.

However, in both cases, the material collected by prosecutors led them to bring charges against the bishop of Tarnów for failing to report the abuse allegedly committed by the two priests under his authority.

This was possible because Poland’s law making it a criminal offence not to report certain crimes to the authorities was expanded in 2017 to include cases of sexual abuse of minors.

Yesterday, after newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza first reported that an indictment against Andrzej J. was imminent, the diocese of Tarnów issued a statement denying the accusations against the bishop.

“Bishop Andrzej J. exercised all due diligence in the scope of his actions and competences regarding the obligation to notify the relevant state authorities of all cases of crimes against minors of which he had knowledge,” wrote the diocese. “We are ready to prove it in court.”

According to Gazeta Wyborcza, however, Andrzej J. waited years before notifying the authorities of the alleged crimes committed by the priests. The newspaper claims that the bishop disciplined Stanisław P. for abuse as early as 2013 but did not notify the state authorities of any crimes until 2020.

Prosecutors concluded that Stanisław P. had harmed at least 95 children, including committing “sexual acts” against 77 of them, over a period of decades in various parishes in Poland and also in Ukraine, reports Gazeta Wyborcza. The priest now lives in a retirement home funded by the diocese

The investigators also reportedly found that the previous bishop of Tarnów, Wiktor Skworc, had been aware of the allegations against Stanisław P. as early as 2002 but also did not report them to the authorities.

Instead, he removed the priest from his parish position in Poland and sent him to Ukraine, before later allowing him to return to the Tarnów diocese. However, Skworc’s actions took place before the change in the law in 2017 and he has not been charged.

After leaving his position in Tarnów in 2011, Skworc served as archbishop of Katowice until 2023 and is now the city’s bishop emeritus.

The Catholic church in Poland has been hit in recent years by a series of revelations regarding the abuse of minors by members of the clergy and attempts by their superiors to cover it up.

A number of Polish bishops have been punished by the Vatican for their neglect in dealing with such cases. But today’s decision is believed to be the first time prosecutors have indicted such a senior church figure over the issue.


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