Poland's Catholic primate has issued an apology after new research data showed much higher rates of child abuse by Catholic clergy under Communist rule than previously believed.
“It is embarrassing that, for decades, we failed to see the harm and suffering of those abused in childhood – I wish to apologise again for this, and for our frequent naivety in dealing with perpetrators of these crimes,” Archbishop Wojciech Polak of Gniezno said in a statement.
“As a Church, we are now taking action to gather and listen to the injured, and provide them with help, primarily psychological and spiritual, in response to their needs.”
The archbishop was reacting to a report in Poland’s Rzeczpospolita daily, which said new research into state archives suggested up to 1,100 children had been sexually abused by around 300 Catholic clergy between 1944 and 1990, mostly covering the period of Communist rule.
The report said 121 abuse cases had been investigated by state courts, with 72 ending in convictions, but added that many abuse suspects, who included parish priests, Catholic academics, editors and theologians, had escaped punishment by agreeing to collaborate with the Communist security service, or Sluzba Bezpieczestwa.
The primate said it was “shocking” that the welfare of children had been routinely disregarded by regime officials in their attempts recruit clergy informers.
However, he added that Rzeczpospolita report had confirmed the need for “further archival research in the Church”, and said Poland's bishops had agreed to set up an independent investigation into clergy crimes against minors, which would begin after a June bishops’ conference plenary.
“I hope this will help the Church in Poland deal honestly with the past, taking into account the historical and social context,” Archbishop Polak said.
“It is what the injured people expect, and what we need as a Church in order to rebuild the trust and credibility necessary for our mission.”
Ten Catholic bishops and archbishops, mostly retired, have faced sanctions for ignoring abuse complaints in Poland, where the Church appointed a child protection co-ordinator in 2013 and has since ensured all dioceses and religious orders have child protection specialists.
A lay-led enquiry commissioned by the Church on sexual abuse in Poland's large Dominican order confirmed widespread cover-ups in a September 2021 report, although Church leaders have vigorously rejected allegations in a recent TV film and book that St John Paul II also ignored abuse by local clergy while Archbishop of Krakow 1963-1978, before his election as Pope.
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