The pope on Tuesday accepted the resignation of a Polish bishop whose diocese has been rocked by reports of an orgy involving male prostitutes in a priest’s apartment, as well as previous incidents of violence involving its priests.
The Vatican did not give a reason why Bishop Grzegorz Kaszak resigned as head of the diocese of Sosnowiec, in southwestern Poland.
At 59, he is a few years away from the normal retirement age of 75.
But his diocese has been in the spotlight again after one of its priests was placed under criminal investigation for an August 30-31 incident at his apartment in Dabrowa Gornicza that allegedly involved a male prostitute.
Polish media reported that one of the participants of the orgy at the house collapsed after taking an overdose of erectile dysfunction pills.
The report said the priest allegedly tried to prevent paramedics from entering the apartment.
Bishop Grzegorz Kaszak resigned when reports of an orgy involving male prostitutes in the priest’s apartment came out. Agencja Wyborcza.pl via REUTERS
Waldemar Łubniewski, spokesman for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Sosnowiec, said the investigation focused on “failure to provide assistance to a person in a situation that poses a threat of loss of life or serious damage to health.”
The scandal has received considerable attention in Poland, with the event widely described as a “gay orgy,” further damaging the image of the church in the Roman Catholic homeland of St. John Paul II who once was.
For several years now, Polish society has experienced a rapid process of secularization, with many people rejecting the church and some even taking steps to leave it officially.
Pope Francis moved with extraordinary speed to remove Kaszak after the bishop said he offered to resign on September 29.AP
It is not the first incident involving priests in the diocese to make headlines, suggesting that the sex scandal is the last problem for the Vatican.
Pope Francis moved with extraordinary speed to remove Kaszak after the bishop said he offered to resign on September 29.
In 2010, the then acting rector of the Sosnowiec seminary was allegedly involved in a brawl at a gay club but was allowed to remain in his job for more than a year even after the case was publicized by the Polish media.
The Holy See eventually intervened and dissolved the seminary altogether, according to the PAP news agency.
In March 2023, the body of a 26-year-old deacon was found with injuries that indicated homicide.
Local prosecutors said she was killed by a 40-year-old priest who then committed suicide.
Prosecutors said the two had been in a conflicted relationship for some time and that the priest had sent threatening messages to the deacon, PAP reported.
In a statement Tuesday, Kaszak said he had asked the pope to allow him to resign in a letter on September 29.
He thanked the priests and nuns of his diocese and asked “everyone to forgive my human limitations.”
Kaszak was appointed bishop in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI, after briefly serving as No. 2 in the Vatican family office.
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The diocese, which identified the priest involved in the incident as Fr. Tomasz Z., largely supporting media reports, said an external investigative commission concluded he committed “very serious violations of moral norms,” as well as his priestly duties.
It cited an “incident” at the priest’s apartment involving him and at least two other lay people.
Kaszak dismissed the priest from all councils on Sept. 21 and began an internal canonical hearing, the outcome of which could result in excommunication, or excommunication, according to a statement on the diocese’s website.
The priest has not been charged by Polish prosecutors.
Polish media quoted a statement he issued shortly after the scandal broke, denying he had prevented paramedics from accessing his apartment and questioning the definition of “orgy.”
“I consider this a clear attack on the church, including the clergy and the faithful, to humiliate its position, duty and mission,” the priest said in a statement sent by email to daily Gazeta Wyborcza.
Polish tabloid Fakt published what it said was an audio recording of one of the contestants’ calls to the police.
In it, the man said he was kicked out of the apartment and begged for paramedics to come, crying at one point and saying his friend was foaming at the mouth after taking drugs.
Kaszak was appointed bishop in 2009 by then-Pope Benedict XVI (see above). AP
The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the footage.
Poland’s Catholic Church has been rocked for several years by allegations of sexual abuse of minors involving priests, a scandal that led to the forced resignation of several bishops and tarnished the church’s reputation.
The Vatican embassy in Poland said the interim administrator, Archbishop Adrian Galbas of Katowice, will run the diocese of Sosnowiec until a new bishop is named.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
