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Post by Bonobo on Aug 24, 2008 23:33:49 GMT 1
Poland considers anti-sex-drive drugs for paedophiles
DPA
8/6/08
Warsaw - The Polish Ministry of Health wants to treat paedophiles
with "chemical castration" by administering pills that lesson sexual
drive, the daily Polska reported on Wednesday. The ministry wants to
make the treatment compulsory for repeat offenders, the daily said.
The pills would reduce or eliminate sex drive by suppressing the
production of testosterone.
"Our idea doesn't yet have the form of a law," ministry spokesman
Jakub Golab told the daily. "We are currently consulting with
sexologists ... We want to bring it into effect as soon as possible."
In as little as one year, people charged with paedophilia will also
be fitted with electronic collars if they have a court order against
going near their victims, Polska reported. If the collars are found
effective, the Ministry of Justice will decide if they should be
given to all paedophiles.
Last year 821 people in Poland were charged with molestation or sex with minors.
Chemical castration for repeat sex offenders is already offered in
several US states, and European countries including Sweden, Germany and Denmark.
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Post by Bonobo on Sept 29, 2009 22:27:57 GMT 1
Poland backs chemical castration
Polish MPs have passed legislation making it obligatory to chemically castrate certain sex offenders.
Under the law anyone found guilty of raping children under 15, or close relatives, will be given drugs to lower their sex drive.
All but three MPs present in the lower house voted for the measures.
They were part of a bill that also increases jail terms for incest and paedophilia, and criminalises any attempt to justify paedophilia.
Anyone propagating such a view is subject to a prison term of up to two years.
The same sentence will be applicable to anyone attempting to seduce a child under 15 years of age over the internet.
The legislation must still pass the senate before taking effect.
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Post by Bonobo on Jan 28, 2010 20:27:00 GMT 1
120 arrested in paedophile sting operation
28.01.2010 12:15
Police have arrested 120 people suspected of possession and distribution of child pornographic in a nation-wide sting in Poland.
Under the code name Operation Roksana, police confiscated 112 computers, 47 hard drives, almost 7,500 CDs and DVDs, discs, VHS cassettes, photographic equipment and mobile phones in the raids.
The operation was initiated by police from the central city of Radom who detected pedophiles sharing pornographic files with indecent images of children using peer-to-peer technology. Officers from Radom, working together with the Polish Police Headquarters team combating human trafficking, managed to determine over 100 addresses of those suspected of paedophilia.
“It was a carefully planned operation, which required the coordination of several hundred policemen from all over the country, who participated in it”, said Karol Jakubowski from the Polish Police Headquarters.
Two of the detained have already been charged with filming and distributing pornographic material of minors. In Poland possession of pornographic material containing images of those under the age of 15 years can garner up to 5 years in prison, while the distribution of child pornography nets an 8-year prison sentence.
Operation Roksana is the first country-wide anti-paedophile sting operation carried out this year. In 2009, policemen from the Polish Police Headquarters team combating human trafficking conducted eight major anti-paedophile operations, detaining 473 people and confiscating 600 computers and 42,000 CDs and DVDs.
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 1, 2011 21:48:03 GMT 1
Priest in paedophilia trial
29.03.2011 12:37
A former pastor from the coastal resort town of Kolobrzeg is in court today accused of two counts of unlawful sexual acts with minors.
Owing to requests from both the plaintiffs and the defendant, the case will remain closed to journalists.
The priest stands charged with performing a sexual act on a 14-year-old boy in 1999, and an 11-year-old boy in the years 2000-2001.
The accused is pleading not guilty to the charges.
The pastor served in Kolobrzeg between 1998 and 2008. However, he was dismissed from his post by the Church for allegedly breaking his vows of celibacy with an adult man.
If found guilty, the priest could face ten years in prison.
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Post by Bonobo on Feb 23, 2013 22:25:55 GMT 1
Polish Episcopate criticises Church child abuse book
02.02.2013 12:27
Poland's Episcopate has criticised a new book that claims the Church is not addressing the problem of paedophilia in its ranks.
The book, Be Afraid: Victims of Paedophilia by the Catholic Church Speak (Lekajcie sie. Ofiary pedofilii w polskim kosciele mowi±) by Dutch journalist Ekke Overbeek, explores 27 cases of alleged child abuse by Polish priests.
However, in a statement released on the Episcopate's official web site, press spokesman Father Jozef Kloch claimed that the book is “full of holes like Swiss cheese,”and ignores new developments.
“The author disregards matters and he does not listen to what does not tie in with his assertions,” Kloch argued.
“He omits certain important facts, particularly concerning what the Church has done and is doing to prevent paedophilia,” he added.
Father Kloch claimed that a code adopted at the plenary session of the Episcopate in March 2012 is a notable omission from Overbeek's book.
The code, which follows that of the Vatican, specified procedures for dealing with complaints against alleged child abusers within the Church.
Kloch reiterated the slogan announced at a press briefing following the 2012 session:
“Zero tolerance for paedophiles, full protection for victims and their families.”
Nevertheless, Overbeek has argued that a climate of fear prevents victims from talking about the abuse they suffered, not least due the prominent stature of priests in Poland.
“You have to have a lot of courage to talk about it, especially in small towns,” the journalist told TOK FM.
“I saw for myself how two victims were treated. It was not pleasant,” he said.
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Post by Bonobo on Nov 2, 2018 14:03:11 GMT 1
Acts of pedophilia by priests in Poland are revealed and prison sentences are issued. Still, Church leaders are unwilling to deal decisively with the problem and they do their best to sweep it under the carpet whenever possible - too often criminal priests are protected by their superiors. A few protests have taken place so far     Activists to set up panel to tackle pedophilia in Polish church
WARSAW (Reuters) - An independent panel aimed at documenting cases of pedophilia in Poland’s Catholic Church will be set up early next year to help victims speak up and claim damages, opposition parliamentarians said on Monday.
The Roman Catholic Church worldwide is reeling from crises involving sexual abuse of minors, deeply damaging confidence in the Church in Chile, the United States, Australia and Ireland among other countries.
In stark contrast, in Poland, a deeply Catholic country, debate has only just begun while activists close to the nascent anti-pedophilia project, called “Nie lekajcie sie” (Don’t Be Afraid), say that around 600 priests in Poland may have inclinations towards pedophilia.
Around 100 people claiming to have been sexually molested by Polish priests phoned to tell their stories in the first 24 hours after organizers of the panel posted an interactive pedophilia map on the Internet on Sunday.
“The map of pedophilia was viewed by 500,000 people since yesterday. Public discussion has started and we want to set up a panel early next year to tackle the issue,” Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus, an opposition MP, told Reuters TV.
The map documents 280 cases of pedophilia committed by 60 priests convicted by Polish courts, but according to activists the real numbers are much higher since victims are often afraid to speak up for psychological and social reasons.
“One-hundred people have called us since yesterday to tell us about their cases, and we need to research and verify all these cases,” Scheuring-Wielgus said.
Several left-wing and liberal MPs, along with rights activists, declared their support in creating or running the investigative panel. The ruling nationalist (PiS) party, whose core support comes from devout Catholics and the Church, is not expected to be involved.
Japan gets ready to let in more foreign workers
A PiS spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment, nor was a spokesman for Poland’s Church.
Last week a Polish court upheld a landmark ruling granting a one million zlotys ($266,084.83) in compensation and an annuity to a victim of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest, accepting that the church ore responsibility for the crimes of its cleric. www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-immigration/japan-aims-to-open-door-wider-to-blue-collar-workers-idUSKCN1N703I‘Baby Shoes Remember’ : commemorating victims of pedophilia jkp/st 26.08.2018, 18:24
The protesters hang baby shoes with tied black ribbons on church-affiliated building in Poznań. Photo:
The “Baby Shoes Remember” campaign, during which participants hang baby shoes on fences of church institutions to pay tribute to the victims of pedophilia, took place in a number of Polish cities on Sunday.
The event was described on Facebook as “the Polish part of the international “Baby Shoes Remember” event, which aims to commemorate all the victims of priests-pedophiles, in particular those, who never got justice”.
The protesters plan to hang baby shoes with tied black ribbons on church-affiliated buildings. The organizers encourage participants to take pictures and post them on social media platforms.
“Bring baby shoes tied with a black ribbon and leave them as a sign of remembrance and sympathy with the victims of pedophile priests, as a wake-up call for our conscience, as a symbol of anger at the disgraceful conduct of the Church”, reads the statement on Facebook.
One of the organizers of the campaign, Nina Sankari, pointed out that shoes would have to be removed from the fences by the themselves. “It will be a symbolic concealment of violence against children in the Church. The detractors should feel that they are alone. The motto of the action is: "When those who demand justice unite, those who want to deny it become an isolated minority" she told Polish radio station TOK FM.
The international “Baby Shoes Remember” campaign originated in Ireland, where Pope Francis is currently on pilgrimage. On Saturday, he met with the victims of pedophile priests and prayed for them at the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dublin.
“I cannot fail to acknowledge the grave scandal caused in Ireland by the abuse of young people by members of the Church tasked with responsibility for their protection and education,” said Pope Francis at a state reception attended by some of the abuse survivors, referring to a series of scandals in the Irish Catholic Church which served as an impulse for the “Baby shoes remember” initiative.
“The failure of ecclesiastical authorities - bishops, religious superiors, priests and others - adequately to address these repugnant crimes has rightly given rise to outrage and remains a source of pain and shame for the Catholic community,” he added.
The Polish edition of the campaign is coordinated by the “Have No Fear” foundation, which is dedicated to helping the victims of pedophilia as well as by the “Women's Strike” initiative. polandinenglish.info/38667690/baby-shoes-remember-commemorating-victims-of-pedophilia |
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Post by jeanne on Nov 3, 2018 0:54:32 GMT 1
Acts of pedophilia by priests in Poland are revealed and prison sentences are issued. Still, Church leaders are unwilling to deal decisively with the problem and they do their best to sweep it under the carpet whenever possible - too often criminal priests are protected by their superiors. The Church in Poland is not alone in this. We have been dealing with it in the U.S. for many years now, and unfortunately, more and more reports are coming out around the world. I am in no way condoning these actions; I condemn them, but let's not forget, though, that this ugliness exists in all areas of society, not just in the Church. |
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Post by Bonobo on Nov 4, 2018 0:56:17 GMT 1
I am in no way condoning these actions; I condemn them, but let's not forget, though, that this ugliness exists in all areas of society, not just in the Church. It is natural no decent person will ever condone those acts. Not all priests are like that, not even a minority of them. Just a small fraction, I hope. There are about 30.000 catholic priests in Poland while The map documents 280 cases of pedophilia committed by 60 priests convicted by Polish courts, but according to activists the real numbers are much higher since victims are often afraid to speak up for psychological and social reasons.
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Post by Bonobo on Jan 26, 2019 20:59:34 GMT 1
www.tvp.pl/polandincom/news/politics-economy/spin-doctor-sentenced-to-jail-term/39883031Piotr Tymochowicz the spin doctor for Andrzej Lepper, former Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Self-Defence (Samoobrona) movement, has been convicted for possession of paedophile pornography. He was sentenced to three years in prison. The verdict is not final and legally binding - Mr Tymochowicz announced that he will appeal against it.
Mr Tymochowicz has a CV dripping with the names of the senior politicians he worked for. Apart from Mr Lepper he has also worked for, or with, Janusz Palikot, the former leader of a left-wing libertarian movement and for former Solidarity trades union leader Marian Krzaklewski. He has also worked for the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and for Stanisław Tymniński an independent candidate who came a surprise second to Lech Wałęsa in the Presidential election of 1990.
The spin doctor will, however, not be able to add his presence on the government introduced register of paedophiles to his CV. His offences of possession of paedophile pornography do not qualify, as the register contains only the names of those who have committed paedophile offences in person. Those prison inmates who may have contact with Mr Tymochowicz during his prison term may not be fully versed in the intricacies of legislation on paedophile offences.
Investigators found that Mr Tymochowicz was in possession of USB devices containing photos and films of a paedophile nature.The action was a part of an international police action against paedophilia (RINA). The prosecution had asked the court to sentence the spin doctor for 4.5 years and for him to await the final sentence in jail.
The court however decided that if Mr Tymochowicz pays bail, amounting to approximately 25,000 Euro, he will be allowed to go home and face police supervision once a week, have his passport taken and be forbidden to leave the country.
Mr Tymochowicz argues that he is innocent and that he will probably be appealing against the verdict. He can take his case to the Appeals court and if he is unsuccessful he can then appeal to the Supreme Court to have his sentence quashed.
The spin doctor, commenting on the court proceedings, said that he felt that he was in “North Korea”. He denied having any interest in child pornography.
In recent years Mr Tymochowicz has spent considerable time in Cambodia where he married a very young woman. There were allegations that she was only 15, but they have not been substantiated. He had previously been married to a Ukrainian who, during the course of the marriage, had a child with another man. The spin doctor actually adopted the child, against the wishes of the biological father, but the marriage eventually ended.
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Post by Bonobo on Feb 22, 2019 22:47:06 GMT 1
The Church in Poland is not alone in this. We have been dealing with it in the U.S. for many years now, and unfortunately, more and more reports are coming out around the world. I am in no way condoning these actions; I condemn them, but let's not forget, though, that this ugliness exists in all areas of society, not just in the Church. Monument to Priest Jankowski, accused of molesting children, has been toppled by 3 activists after a few months of uproar around it. rmx.news/poland/statue-priest-jankowski-gda%C5%84sk-toppled Statue of priest Jankowski toppled over
The statue of controversial priest Henryk Jankowski was toppled over in Gdańsk. The culprits claim that they did it to “crush the false and disgusting myth of Henryk Jankowski”. The priest, Solidarity movement hero, has posthumously been accused of sexually abusing minors.
A video depicting the event was published by journalist Tomasz Sekielski on twitter: “This is how the toppling of the statue of prelate Jankowski looked like. This all happened during the night, at around 3am.”
One can see three men first tie a noose around the neck of the statue and then shift the pedestal. The statue crashes into prepared tires, so that it would not be destroyed. The men then put an altar boy’s clothes and underwear on the fallen statue. The three culprits have been detained by the police.
Controversies
In December 2018, a report called the “Secrets of Saint Brigitte. Why the Church let father Jankowski abuse children for years” was published in a Gazeta Wyborcza owned magazine. In it, the prelate was accused of sexually abusing children. The committee that financed the Jankowski statue demanded it be reinstated on Thursday, insisting that all charges against the priest were dropped during his lifetime.
Jankowski died in 2010 and was one of the most influential figures involved in the Solidarity movement as well as the anti-communist opposition during Poland’s communist era.
The toppling of the statue might not have been coincidental, as the Vatican conference concerning combating pedophilia in the Church started on Thursday. |
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Post by jeanne on Feb 23, 2019 1:27:35 GMT 1
[/i] The toppling of the statue might not have been coincidental, as the Vatican conference concerning combating pedophilia in the Church started on Thursday. [/i] [/quote] Yes, I would think the timing of the toppling was carefully planned. |
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Post by Bonobo on Feb 23, 2019 19:25:47 GMT 1
has been toppled by 3 activists after a few months of uproar around it. And, after a day, it was put up again by priest`s supporters from Solidarity. This game is called "play cat and mouse" and it seems it is going to continue because the city won`t pay the police for guarding it 24/24.   |
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 20, 2020 8:34:23 GMT 1
There is an internal struggle within the Polish Church: some bishops and priests want to sweep dirty acts under the carpet and hush them up. Others, on the contrary. Which group will prevail? Do those who hide cases of child abuse and protect perpetrators realise they are destroying the Church and faith in Poland? Probably they do but they don`t care. The first article from May about the film revealing cases of pedophilianotesfrompoland.com/2020/05/16/new-documentary-reveals-paedophilia-and-cover-ups-in-polands-catholic-church-prompting-swift-official-response/Documentary on priestly paedophilia and cover-ups prompts swift response from Poland’s Catholic church
May 16, 2020 | 1 comment
Documentary on priestly paedophilia and cover-ups prompts swift response from Poland’s Catholic church
A new documentary on paedophilia in Poland’s Catholic church has been released today, drawing attention to how the issue has been covered up by the church hierarchy. It has already prompted a reaction from one of Poland’s most senior bishops, who has promised to invite the Vatican to investigate.
The film, Hide and Seek, is the second on this subject by filmmaker brothers Marek and Tomasz Sekielski. A year ago, they released Tell No One, in which a number of victims revealed the abuse they had faced as children and were filmed confronting their former abusers. It also showed how such cases had been swept under the carpet by the church.
The revelations provoked shock, anger and debate in Poland, a country where 90% of the population identify as Catholic and the church remains an influential institution. It also prompted an apology to victims from the head of the country’s Catholic episcopate, as well as promises from the church and politicians to tackle the problem more seriously.
Both films were financed entirely through crowdfunding, with the Sekielskis saying that this allowed them to exercise full editorial independence. They were first published on YouTube, with Tell No One being viewed there over 23 million times, as well as later being broadcast on television.
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The new documentary, Hide and Seek, presents the story of two brothers, now young adults, who are seeking to confront a priest, Arkadiusz Hajdasz, who abused them in their childhood and to bring him to justice. As they chase leads, they discover more of his victims, yet meet with a lack of compassion or understanding from the church officials they deal with.
They also aim to bring to account those in the church hierarchy who were responsible for moving the priest from parish to parish whenever his abusive behaviour received too much attention in one place (an alleged tactic the church has often been accused of).
In one scene, it is shown that already in 2016 the parents of another victim confronted the priest and informed him that they were going to report the issue to Edward Janiak, the bishop of Kalisz. In response, Hajdasz assured them that the bishop was already aware of the situation. Yet Janiak refused to speak to the family at all.
The documentary suggests that Janiak knew for years of alleged abuse by Hajdasz without taking action. Speaking today to broadcaster TVN24, a priest, Kazimierz Sowa, said that “if the evidence disclosed in the film is confirmed, it should end with [Janiak’s] resignation”.
The Sekielskis also demonstrate structural similarities between the actions concerning Hajdak and those taken in the case of Paweł Kania, a priest who was allowed to continue serving in the church – including having contact with children – even after police arrested him for offering money to children for sexual services and found child pornography on his computer.
Even after his conviction, Kania was simply moved between parishes and continued to work as a priest. Only after a second sentence was he removed from the priesthood. Kania’s case was one of those that featured in Tell No One.
In the new documentary, the legal representative of one of Kania’s victims says that children have become not only “victims of the priest that physically raped [them] but of the whole system that allowed for moving a paedophile priest from one place to another”.
The Sekielski brothers stress that their aim is not to target the Catholic church, but the criminals who happen to be wearing cassocks. They also aim to draw attention to the fact that there has been little action by the state to tackle the issue, even after the release of their first documentary last year.
“The film is an accusation against the whole political class in Poland,” Tomask Sekielski told Gazeta Wyborcza. “A state commission on paedophilia [promised last year by politicians] still hasn’t been formed.”
Last year, politicians from across the spectrum declared their determination to support and defend the victims of pedophilia, though the ruling conservative government said that any measures taken should tackle child abuse as a whole, not just in the church.
The head of Poland’s episcopate, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, “apologised to all those who were harmed” and established a new church body and fund to support victims. Many, however, felt that the church – including Gądecki himself – had not done enough to deal with the issue. A recent poll found that trust in the church has fallen faster than for any other institution over the last two years.
The new documentary also includes remarks from Tomasz Terlikowski, a prominent Polish Catholic commentator, who warns that the Catholic church in Poland is in danger of heading in the same direction as those in Ireland and the United States. Terlikowski calls for church officials to stop covering up cases and for the state to stop protecting the church.
“I want my kids to know that I took the side of the victims in this case and I believe that by speaking up and revealing the evil and structural sins we can change something,” wrote Terlikowski on Facebook ahead of the film’s release. “Church institutions have already shown that they will not do a thing on their own.”
Within hours of being published on YouTube this morning, the film already triggered a response from Archbishop Wojciech Polak, the Primate of Poland. In a video of his own, he said that, having watched the documentary, he would be “appealing through the Apostolic Nunciature for the Vatican to open a case…concerning the failure to undertake actions required by law”.
Polak reminded members of the clergy that “anyone who has knowledge of the sexual abuse of a minor…is obliged in conscience – and by law – to make a notification” to the authorities. “Priests, nuns, parents and educators [should] not follow the false logic of caring for the church…[by] concealing the perpetrators of sexual offences”.
The Sekielski brothers have already announced that they are planning a third documentary that will focus on the role of the Vatican, and in which they will try to determine to what extent the late Polish Pope John Paul II had knowledge of the problem of paedophilia in the Catholic church.
[/s][/i] Second article about a troublemaker bishopcruxnow.com/church-in-europe/2020/06/polish-bishop-lashes-out-at-archbishop-for-reporting-abuse-cover-up-to-vatican/Polish bishop lashes out at archbishop for reporting abuse cover-up to Vatican
Paulina Guzik
Jun 17, 2020
Polish bishop lashes out at archbishop for reporting abuse cover-up to Vatican
Polish Archbishop Wojciech Polak of Gniezno speaks during a news conference in Warsaw May 22, 2019, after bishops met to discuss steps the Catholic Church will take to tackle the problem of clergy sex abuse. Polak has been attacked by Bishop Edward Janiak after the archbishop reported him to the papal nuncio over allegations he covered up sex abuse in his diocese. (Credit: CNS photo/Agencja Gazeta, Slawomir Kaminski via Reuters.)
A bishop at the center of a documentary on sex abuse in the Catholic Church in Poland has tried to defend himself, but has only generated more controversy.
The film “Hide and Seek” documented a dramatic case of abuse of power by Bishop Edward Janiak of Kalisz in central Poland. In 2016, when a family visited him to report that their son was abused by their parish priest, Janiak expelled them from his office and didn’t report the case to the Vatican’s Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, as the law required.
RELATED: New documentary highlights abuse cover-up in Poland
The documentary was released on May 16, and on the same day Archbishop Wojciech Polak, the Primate of Poland and Delegate of Child Protection at the Polish Bishops Conference, reported the case to the Holy See through the Vatican embassy, using the procedure outlined in a new Vatican law – Vos Estis Lux Mundi – which was promulgated by Pope Francis on June 1, 2019. It was the first time the law had been utilized in Poland.
Janiak responded with a June 13 letter to the Polish bishops rejecting the accusations and attacking Polak for reporting him.
Now Janiak has two problems: The letter was leaked to the media, and was filled with factual errors.
The daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza published the leaked document on June 15. In his letter – which was sent to most of the Polish bishops, but not Polak and those considered part of his circle – Janiak wrote: “The Primate claimed (…) that his statement after the film was a matter of his conscience. This is not the point, because it is a matter of facts, not conscience.”
The bishop added Polak “issued a verdict,” created “great confusion” and “harmed the image of the Church” by reporting the case.
Janiak also condemned the Polish primate for allegedly meeting with the filmmakers before the film’s release: “I don’t have to add that they are the enemies of the Church and what low motives they are driven by.”
The bishop also claimed that the St. Joseph Foundation, established by the Polish bishops’ conference to support victims of sexual abuse in the country, was only set up through the manipulation of the hierarchy.
“The bishops were against the establishment of the foundation,” Janiak wrote, claiming that it was the first time in his 24 years as a bishop that “after the secret voting where bishops were against the initiative, the decision was changed to a positive one.”
Janiak even suggested that even the election of Polak as Delegate for Child Protection was also forced “in order not to compromise the Primate.”
The same day the letter was leaked to the press, Bishop Artur Miziński, the secretary general of the Polish Bishops Conference, released a statement saying, “The appointment of Archbishop Wojciech Polak as Delegate of Child Protection of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, and the creation of St. Joseph Foundation were approved by a vast majority of bishops during the Episcopal plenary meetings in 2019.”
On June 16, Polak released a statement reiterating that “any priest, after receiving reliable information about a case of abuse, is obliged to inform Church authorities about the matter.”
The archbishop added that in his position as Delegate of Child Protection, he “could not remain silent or remain idle with the facts presented” in the documentary.
The Office of Child Protection also confirmed to Crux that Polak did not meet with the Sekielski Brothers, the documentary producers, but spoke on the phone to the victims of the abusive priest featured in their film, and that the Foundation of St. Joseph is already paying for therapy of one of the survivors whose story was presented in the film.
The latest scandal over Janiak’s letter is a further blow to the Church in Poland, which has been facing questions over its handling of clerical abuse over the past few years.
“The Polish Church is on an inclined plane. I am surprised that the Papal Nuncio didn’t yet manage to suspend Bishop Janiak since his actions are scandalous,” said Zbigniew Nosowski, chief editor of Więź, a Catholic magazine.
Nosowski is also a cofounder of Zranieni w Kościele (“Hurt in the Church”), the helpline for victims of sexual abuse in the Church. The initiative was also criticized by Janiak in his letter, saying that putting posters with the helpline number in the parishes “scandalized” the faithful.
“I am also surprised that Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki [of Poznan], who is Janiak’s metropolitan and who is officially investigating his case for the Vatican, is letting him do such things,” Nosowski told Crux.
The journalist also noted that Gądecki is the current president of the Polish Bishops’ Conference and expressed his hope that the archbishop could “save the dignity” of the institution.
Tomasz Terlikowski – a Catholic writer and journalist who appeared in “Hide and Seek” – says Janiak’s letter has convinced more people to leave the Church than the movie “Kler,” a 2018 film about an abusive priest that became a blockbuster in Poland.
“You know why? Because it showed that the reality is much worse than the film’s imagination,” he wrote in a June 15 Facebook post.
Terlikowski added that the letter showed the “mafia mentality” of Janiak who “is threatening the bishops that he will not remain silent,” suggesting he has information that may compromise them.
Janiak’s letter to his fellow bishops came after a June 5 letter he sent to all parishes in his diocese on Trinity Sunday, in which he asked “especially for prayer at this time of a media campaign against me, that I may be sanctified by the invisible power of the Holy Spirit.”
The same day he was defended by Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, the longtime director of the popular, conservative Radio Maria station.
“Let’s pray for our father, the bishop,” the priest said after his June 5 Mass at the shrine of St. Joseph in the city of Kalisz.
“If you love Poland, don’t harm, don’t attack the Church with your hatred. Whatever would happen, it is not right to hit the bishops … Don’t attack, don’t kill with your words, because throwing words, you become killers,” Rydzyk said.
Nosowski said the Janiak case could be a turning point for the Church in Poland, which still suffers from a Cold War mentality aimed at preventing external attacks by the Communist regime.
“The reaction of Primate Polak ended symbolically what was the era of silence in the Church in Poland – which meant that no bishop will ever comment publicly about the dirty laundry of another bishop,” the journalist said.
“I stress the era ended symbolically, because in reality … Archbishop Polak, seems still pretty alone,” he added.
Tomasz Krzyżak, a journalist for the daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita said swift action was needed to restore trust in the Polish Church.
“We can clearly see that if Vatican doesn’t react, and if it doesn’t react quickly, nothing will change in the mentality of the bishops who, like Janiak, are not even considering a change of heart,” he told Crux.
Krzyżak is currently reporting on another case of the abuse of power – this time in the Diocese of Radom, which is in central Poland.: |
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Post by Bonobo on Aug 30, 2020 12:44:40 GMT 1
More and more cases of covering dirty acts of local priests by their superiors, mostly bishops. They used to intimidate and silence the victims and send the culprits to other parishes where they continued molesting kids. Yuk, when I read about it, it constantly occurs to me these people are destroying the Church and religion in Poland quite efficiently. notesfrompoland.com/2020/06/26/pope-orders-polish-bishop-accused-of-covering-up-sex-abuse-to-be-relieved-of-duty/
Pope Francis has ordered that the Bishop of Kalisz, Edward Janiak, be relieved of his duties while the Vatican investigates claims that he covered up child sex abuse in the church. The Archbishop of Łódź, Grzegorz Ryś, has been temporarily appointed to take over Janiak’s duties.
Janiak has faced a number of controversies in recent weeks. Last month, Hide and Seek, a documentary on clerical paedophilia – and alleged attempts by Poland’s Catholic church to cover it up – accused Janiak of failing to respond to accusations of abuse.www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/world/europe/pope-francis-abuse-gdansk.html
By Elisabetta Povoledo and Anatol Magdziarz
Aug. 14, 2020
ROME — Pope Francis this week accepted the resignation of the archbishop of Gdansk, Poland, who has been accused of protecting priests facing allegations of child abuse, a step seen as a subtle rebuke but also criticized as inadequate.
The archbishop, Slawoj Leszek Glodz, had offered his resignation upon reaching the retirement age of 75, as protocol demands, but bishops are typically allowed to keep their positions past that time.
The pope’s decision to accept Archbishop Glodz’s resignation on his birthday was interpreted by many as an admonishment of the church hierarchy in Poland, which has long been accused of putting the institution’s image above the rights of abuse victims.
For some critics, the perceived rebuke was too little, too late.
“It was an insufficient move,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, a group that tracks abuse in the church. “The Pope has promised accountability for bishops who cover up. He has also talked about proportionality of punishment for accused priests, but this is the mildest of sanctions.” |
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