Polish bishop goes on trial accused of failing to promptly report child sex abuse claims

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

The bishop of Tarnów, Andrzej Jeż, has gone on trial, accused of failing to promptly inform the law enforcement authorities about allegations of child sex abuse committed by priests under his authority.

It is the first time a bishop in Poland has faced trial over such allegations. However, the Catholic church has faced a number of similar accusations in recent years, and the Vatican has disciplined some Polish bishops for their negligence in dealing with sex abuse.

The accusations against Jeż, whose trial began today at the district court in Tarnów, relate to alleged abuse by two priests working under his authority, who can be named only as Stanisław P. and Tomasz K. under Polish privacy law.

In 2022, prosecutors discontinued an investigation into allegations against Stanisław P. because the statute of limitations had expired, despite concluding that he had harmed at least 95 children and committed “sexual acts” against 77 of them over decades in various parishes in Poland and Ukraine.

In 2023, they decided to bring charges against Tomasz K., who allegedly sexually abused children at least as early as 2018. But they have been unable to present him with those charges due to the priest’s poor health, reports news website OKO.press.

The material collected by prosecutors also led them to charge Jeż with failing to immediately report the alleged abuse by priests under his authority. If found guilty, the bishop could face up to three years in prison.

The charges were made possible because, in 2017, a law making it a criminal offence not to “immediately notify the authorities” of “credible information” about the preparation or commission of certain types of crime was expanded to include sexual abuse of minors.

Investigators say that, although an internal church probe into Stanisław P. was initiated in the 2000s and a decision to remove him from the clergy was made in 2013, Bishop Andrzej Jeż only notified the prosecutor’s office in 2020. In the case of Tomasz K., the bishop notified prosecutors only in 2021.

Jeż has served as bishop of Tarnów since 2012, and before that, from 2009 to 2012, he was the auxiliary bishop of Tarnów.

Jeż has pleaded not guilty to the crimes. A statement by his diocese said that for years it has followed a “zero tolerance” approach to sexual abuse of minors, and that the bishop himself “diligently performed his duties and took all necessary steps” under both church and state law.

It said Jeż only gained “concrete knowledge” of Stanisław P.’s case in 2019, after obtaining documents related to his time in Ukraine and suspicions of his crimes. The diocese first reported the matter to the Vatican and then to national authorities in 2020, it said.

It added that, according to the bishop’s information, one of the victims had already informed prosecutors about abuse in 2010, so the state authorities were already aware of the case.

Meanwhile, the diocese said that the bishop was only made aware of Tomasz K.’s alleged crime against a minor under 15 at the end of 2021, after which he “immediately” sought to inform the authorities.

An earlier internal church investigation had sanctioned Tomasz K. for “acts to the detriment of minors under 18 years of age”, added the statement.

Jeż was indicted by prosecutors in April 2024, but the trial has only begun now in part due to questions over whether it could be held in Tarnów.

The district court itself asked the Supreme Court to transfer the case to another city because local judges have had contact with the bishop, including some who have “close personal and social relationships” with him, reports news website Interia.

However, the Supreme Court rejected the request to transfer the case elsewhere, saying that, if there was such a potential conflict of interest, a specific judge could be removed rather than the entire court.

The trial was then due to begin in April 2025, but was delayed due to the judge’s illness, before eventually being assigned to another judge.

The Catholic church in Poland has in recent years been hit by a series of revelations regarding historical abuse of minors by members of the clergy and allegations that bishops covered cases up.

The Vatican has taken action against a number of Polish bishops over the issue. Most recently, in 2024, the Vatican announced the resignation of the bishop of Łowicz, Andrzej Dziuba, due to his “negligence in handling cases of sexual abuse against minors”.

Last week, a commission created by the diocese of Sosnowiec following a series of scandals announced that it had identified at least 50 children who were harmed and 29 people suspected of abusing minors, most of them members of the clergy

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Jakub Wlodek / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Olivier Sorgho

Olivier Sorgho is senior editor at Notes from Poland, covering politics, business and society. He previously worked for Reuters.