Polish court convicts bishop of failing to promptly report abuse

A Polish bishop has been convicted of failing to promptly notify law enforcement about the sexual abuse of minors by two priests of his diocese.

A district court in Tarnów, southern Poland, on Oct. 29 found Bishop Andrzej Jeż of Tarnów guilty and sentenced him to two years’ “restriction of liberty,” a noncustodial penalty. Instead of prison, 1,000 zlotys (about $254) of his monthly salary will go to a childrenʼs charity.

The court also ordered him to pay 10,000 zlotys (about $2,538) on each count into a state victims’ fund. Prosecutor Marcin Stępień had sought a suspended sentence and a fine of 20,000 zlotys (about $5,075).

The verdict is the outcome of the first criminal trial of a Polish bishop on that charge. The diocese has announced it will appeal.

The courtʼs reasoning

“The court believes that the defendantʼs task was merely, and yet as much as, to file the appropriate notifications, not to assess individual cases,” Judge Małgorzata Adamczyk said.

She found the bishopʼs testimony not credible.

The curia said it “does not agree with the courtʼs decision” and stressed that, in both cases, the curia made formal notifications to law enforcement authorities. It expressed “deep regret for the harm and suffering of all persons harmed by sexual crimes.”

At the trialʼs opening in February, Jeż, who has led the diocese since 2012, pleaded not guilty and apologized to those harmed.

Since July 2017, Polish law has required that authorities be immediately informed of credible knowledge of the sexual abuse of a child under 15.

The first case concerns former priest Stanisław P., who prosecutors found had harmed at least 95 children in Poland and Ukraine. Prosecutors closed the case in 2022 as time-barred.

The curia said the bishop had concrete information only in 2019 and notified prosecutors in 2020. Stępień countered that a Church tribunal had found the priest guilty in a 2013 decree issued by Jeż and that this earlier finding meant the delay left the abuse of 23 boys time-barred.

The second case concerns a priest, Tomasz K., accused of abusing minors between 2008 and 2010. The curia said the bishop learned only in late 2021 that a victim may have been under 15 and reported it that December, while prosecutors said the curia knew in 2017. The priestʼs case is pending in Nowy Sącz.

Other Polish bishops, including Bishop Jan Tyrawa and Archbishop Andrzej Dzięga, have resigned after Vatican inquiries into their handling of abuse claims. None faced criminal charges.