The Roman Catholic Diocese of Płock has apologised for the behaviour of one of its priests, who pressed a pupil against a desk and allegedly twisted his arm during a religion lesson at a school for children with special needs. Video of the incident sparked outrage after it was obtained by a media outlet.
The school has suspended the priest while an investigation takes place. Police, the regional education superintendent, and Poland’s commissioner for children’s rights have all announced that are taking action in response to the event.
The footage was released to the public on Monday when it was published by broadcaster TVN24. According to the station, the video, which shows the priest demanding that the student “apologise to God”, was sent in by the mother of another pupil.
The incident occurred on Friday at the Special School and Educational Centre in Maków, central Poland. The facility cares for children with intellectual disabilities, including providing early development support and therapy for those with autism.
“The worst thing is that this priest has behaved strangely before. The kids [are] disabled, [so] no one would believe them, but now we have a recording,” said the mother of the girl who filmed the incident. According to her, the boy restrained by the priest is 15 years old and diagnosed with ADHD.
She also claimed that, after the priest found out about the recording, he called to warn the girl and her mother that “there would be consequences” if it was published, including the possibility of her being expelled from school.
In response to the video’s release, the school’s principal announced that the priest has been suspended and was “not currently performing any professional activities”.
The local diocese, which is responsible for referring Catholic catechists to teach religion classes in schools, told TVN24 that “such a situation should never happen”.
“We apologise for what has happened,” they added. “The bishop will immediately meet with the catechist and the principal…to clarify the matter thoroughly and to take appropriate decisions regarding the priest.”
In Poland, religion classes – which are optional but attended by most children – are funded and hosted by public schools but with teachers and curriculums chosen by the church.
A spokesperson for the police also confirmed to the broadcaster that they had received footage of the incident along with a notification that a potential crime had taken place. Witnesses have been interviewed and evidence sent to prosecutors, they added.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the regional education superintended told TV24 that an “ad hoc inspection of the provision of safe learning, upbringing and care conditions for pupils” will be carried out at the school this week.
Children’s rights commissionaire Mikołaj Pawlak also announced that he was seeking further information on the case. “No one, regardless of their function, can use violence against a child,” he tweeted today, adding that hundreds of disciplinary cases against teachers take place each year for this reason.
Z tego właśnie powodu co roku setki nauczycieli mają sprawy dyscyplinarne. Wyjaśniam także tę sprawę i będę domagał się wyciągnięcia konsekwencji. Nikt, niezależnie od tego, jaką funkcję pełni, nie może stosować przemocy wobec dziecka.https://t.co/3RRXEhd0Xw
— Rzecznik Praw Dziecka (@RPDPawlak) December 13, 2022
Main image credit: TVN24 (screenshot)
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
