Two priests of the Sosnowiec diocese committed pedophilia – the District Prosecutor's Office in Sosnowiec found out. One of them has already been imprisoned for three months. A former priest was also detained and – according to investigators – should be held accountable for fraud. In recent years, the Sosnowiec diocese has regularly witnessed scandals that were talked about throughout Poland – including an orgy and a murder. The Curia issued a statement regarding the detained priests, informing that one of them had been banned from serving and contact with children for a year.
According to the prosecutor's office, two current priests and one former priest of the Sosnowiec diocese were detained on October 1. As prosecutor Bartosz Kilian from the District Prosecutor's Office in Sosnowiec announced on Wednesday during a press conference, the arrests were made on Tuesday by officers of the Provincial Police Headquarters in Katowice. The officers searched the places of residence of the detained persons. They secured evidence, including electronic data carriers.
Prosecutor Kilian announced that the detainees were 67, 63 and 59 years old.
Charges against priests from Sosnowiec
The 67-year-old priest was charged with two crimes. He made an explanation. After the hearing, the prosecutor decided to place him under police supervision, along with a ban on contact with the victims, a ban on approaching them and a ban on leaving the country.
The 63-year-old was charged with two sexual offenses. After his hearing on Tuesday, the prosecutor's office asked the court for his temporary arrest for a period of three months, and on Wednesday the court agreed to this request.
The 59-year-old priest initially reported health problems, so his participation in the activities of the prosecutor's office was initially – as Kilian explained – impossible. That changed on Wednesday. – The prosecutor interrogated the suspect, announced a total of nine charges against him regarding sexual offenses and, after the interrogation, decided to apply preventive measures of a liberty nature. What I mean here is police supervision, a ban on contacting victims and their parents, a ban on staying in places where minors gather, and a ban on working and educating minors. This was supplemented with a ban on leaving the country combined with the confiscation of the passport, said prosecutor Bartosz Kilian.
Dorota Pelon, spokeswoman for the District Prosecutor's Office in Sosnowiec, previously informed journalists that the subject of the proceedings are sexual crimes against minors and economic crimes.
Curia statement. One of the priests was banned from serving
The Sosnowiec curia issued a statement on Wednesday in which it referred to the case of detained priests. The announcement shows that one of the clergy has been banned from any public pastoral service and from contact with young people and children for over a year. The ban provided for by church law was imposed on him on September 26, 2023.
One of the detained priestsPAP/Michał Meissner
“This occurred as a result of reporting a potential prohibited act, which was received by the then bishop. From then on, the priest was banned from any public pastoral service and from contact with young people and children. At that time, the priest was outside the parish, in a place indicated by the Bishop of Sosnowiec.” – noted in a statement the spokesman of the Diocesan Curia in Sosnowiec, Fr. Przemysław Lech.
On Wednesday, the Bishop of Sosnowiec took preventive measures provided for by law against the second of the detained clergy: he suspended him from performing his duties as a parish priest, banned him from celebrating the sacraments in public and banned him from having contact with children. “The third detainee is not a priest. In 2019, he was transferred to secular status. The diocesan curia has not known his whereabouts since 2016,” added the priest. Lech.
As he explained, preventive measures remain in force until the allegations against both clergy are clarified and he once again stated that the diocesan curia declares full openness and cooperation with the authorities conducting the proceedings.
“We would like to remind you that the Bishop of Sosnowiec, Artur Ważny, initiated the activities of the commission in June, the aim of which is to investigate any potential irregularities that may have occurred in the diocese in recent years. One of the tasks of the commission will also be to investigate all reported cases of sexual abuse since the establishment of the Sosnowiec diocese, i.e. since 1992.
The diocesan curia assured that whenever it obtains knowledge or reports about the possibility of committing crimes by a clergyman, it takes actions provided for by Polish and canon law. “At the same time, we want to assure injured people that we are ready to provide help, including psychological, psychotherapeutic and spiritual help,” the statement emphasized.
A case that emerged by accident
Prosecutor Jakub Seweryn from the District Prosecutor's Office in Sosnowiec emphasizes that the detention of two priests and one ex-priest is a new case that has not been reported in the media before.
This is important because more shocking information from Sosnowiec and Dąbrowa Górnicza has recently reached the public opinion. In March last year at the Catholic house at ul. Kościelna in Sosnowiec The body of a 26-year-old deacon was found with numerous injuries on his body, indicating murder. According to the findings of the District Prosecutor's Office in Sosnowiec, the deacon was killed by a 40-year-old priest who then committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a train.
A few months later, in September 2023, in the apartment of Fr. Tomasz Z., located in the parish of St. Mary of the Angels in Dąbrowa Górnicza, the emergency services and police intervened. The event was described by “Gazeta Wyborcza”, calling it a sexual event that got out of control. When one of the meeting participants lost consciousness, another called an ambulance, but the rescuers were not allowed to enter. Eventually, the police were called to the scene, and after the intervention of rescuers they were able to take care of the unconscious man. He was taken to hospital. In January 2024, priest Tomasz Z. was arrested, among others. on charges of crimes against sexual freedom and decency, failure to provide assistance and providing drugs. The priest was sentenced in April.
– The investigation resulting in Tuesday's arrests is unrelated to these events. At the same time, I must point out that knowledge of the crimes committed by the three detained men emerged during the investigation of the death of a 26-year-old deacon – admits prosecutor Seweryn.
Pedophilia and fraud
The tvn24.pl interlocutor emphasizes that those detained in the latest case are “people with life experience.” – They were born in the 1950s and 1960s. They worked in various parishes of the Sosnowiec diocese – says the prosecutor.
He adds that the detained man, who lost his status as a clergyman before his arrest, is suspected of “economic crimes to the detriment of private persons.”
– In turn, two men who served as clergy are suspected of sexual crimes against minors. At this stage, we do not disclose when these acts took place. However, I would like to emphasize that the statute of limitations has not expired, says prosecutor Jakub Seweryn.
Curia announcement
The Diocesan Curia in Sosnowiec referred to the arrests in a statement. Her spokesman, Fr. Przemysław Lech emphasized that the curia “declares full openness and cooperation with the authorities conducting the proceedings.”
In the announcement issued by the Sosnowiec episcopal curia, we also read that another announcement will be issued after “the Diocesan Curia receives additional information.”
Curia announcement
Scandals that all of Poland was talking about
On Tuesday, we reported on tvn24.pl that that a commission for discernment and development has already started work in the Sosnowiec diocese, and a commission will soon be established that will deal with explaining the scandals involving clergy in leading roles. In addition to the murder and the “sexual event” described above, two other stories shocked the faithful: The first one took place relatively long ago, in 2010. The then rector of the Sosnowiec seminary, Fr. Dr. Mariusz T. allegedly got into a fight in a gay club. After the matter was publicized by the media, the priest continued to serve as rector for another year and a half. After the intervention of the Holy See, the Sosnowiec seminary was dissolved and the students studying there were transferred to Częstochowa, where the Major Seminary of the Diocese of Sosnowiec still operates today.
On March 20, the services received a call to the apartment occupied by a priest from the parish of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Sosnowiec. After arriving at the scene, rescuers resuscitated the unconscious young man. However, his life could not be saved. The next day, the Sosnowiec-Północ District Prosecutor's Office initiated an investigation to explain the causes and circumstances of death. The priest in whose apartment the man died was charged with possession of a psychotropic substance. He pleaded not guilty. After questioning, he was released.
Sex scandal in the parish in Dąbrowa GórniczaFakty TVN24
Main photo source: PAP/Michał Meissner