Tarnów. The bishop's trial is delayed

On Tuesday, the trial of Bishop Tarnów Andrzej J. was to start before the court in Tarnów. The ordinary is accused of delaying the notification of prosecution authorities of pedophile acts to be applied to his subordinates.

The dismissal of the hearing was confirmed in an interview with tvn24.pl Małgorzata Stanisławczyk-Karpiel, spokeswoman for the Tarnów District Court. – The process will not start either today or on the second set period of April, because the referee is sick and submitted sick leave The spokeswoman explained.

Asked whether in the event of a sickness release, there would be a change of the clerk, our interlocutor reported that there is no such decision yet. However, the change would not mean a significant acceleration of the start of the process, because the new judge would have to read the documentation of the case.

The deadline of the third hearing, during which the trial may begin, was designated for May 13.

Too late notification

The indictment against Andrzej J., who still holds the position of Bishop Tarnów, was received by the court in April 2024.

As the spokesperson of the District Prosecutor's Office in Tarnów, prosecutor Mieczysław Sienicki, the church authorities, despite the fact that they submitted a notification about the possibility of committing pedophile acts by priests Stanisław P. and Tomasz K., did it, they did it too late. “It did not happen immediately, as the recipe requires,” said the spokesman.

He noted that if someone has reliable information about such a crime, he is obliged to immediately notify law enforcement agencies under the provision of the Penal Code amended in 2017 (it is Article 240 paragraph 1).

According to the prosecutor's office, the Church had reliable news about the crimes of pedophile priests, because it conducted internal proceedings on both priests.

Read also: The priest accused of harassment of a seven -year -old boy appeared in court

Diocese message

Information about the indictment against the bishop Andrzej J. first reported “Gazeta Wyborcza”. At that time, these reports were commented in the press spokesman of the Tarnów diocese, Fr. Ryszard St. Nowak.

“We would like to inform you that the bishop has not received any notification in this matter. Therefore, at this stage, we only want to emphasize with all the firmness that Bishop Andrzej J., as the ordinary of Tarnów, has been due to due diligence in the scope of his actions and competences as to the obligation to submit to the appropriate state authorities to the relevant state authorities of all cases of crimes against minors, which he has knowledge. We are ready to prove it in the court” statement.

Prosecutor's investigation

The case of Fr. Stanisława P. was examined by the prosecutor's office, but in view of the limitation period, the prosecutor Mieczysław Sienicki was discontinued at the end of 2022 that the materials regarding art. 240 parish KK became the basis for a separate investigation into the failure to notify law enforcement agencies by the church authorities about the priest's acts.

At the same time, the prosecutor's office in Tarnów was pending in the case of sexual abuse against minors by Fr. Tomasz K. in May 2023, a decision was issued against him to present the charges, but due to his state of health, he was not able to announce them. This proceeding, however, provided materials in terms of the formulation of the second plea – the immediate notification of law enforcement agencies towards the bishop of the Tarnów diocese.