The Polish Church, which was already abandoned by part of the electorate in the October 15 vote and from which the ultra-conservative PiS party emerged unable to govern, is facing other difficulties. La Gazeta Wyborcza sheds light on a sexual scandal with an exclusive investigation – gay orgies among priests, Viagra, a prostitute – and the bishop of the affected diocese of Sosnowiec submits his resignation. Pope Francis accepted it.
The scandal has been going on for a month. On October 24th, the resignation of Bishop Grzegorz Kaszak, who left office very early, was accepted by the Vatican – without official reasons. Meanwhile, criminal investigations are underway against a priest in his diocese, Tomas Z., in whose apartment a prostitute collapsed due to a Viagra overdose on the night of August 30th to 31st. The investigation was triggered by a failure to provide assistance: the young man risked his life, but in order to avoid a scandal, help was not called in time. In fact, according to media reports, the priest initially tried to prevent the paramedics from entering the apartment.
It is not the first scandal in Sosnowiec, a medium-sized diocese in the southwest of the country. In 2010, the then acting rector of the Sosnowiec seminary was allegedly caught in a gay club, but was allowed to remain in his post for over a year even after the case became known in the Polish media.
In March 2023, the body of a 26-year-old deacon was found with injuries consistent with murder. Local prosecutors said he was killed by a 40-year-old priest who then committed suicide. The prosecution alleged that the two had had a contentious relationship for some time and that the priest had sent threatening messages to the deacon.
Now the sex party with (almost) dead people. In a statement Tuesday, Kaszak said he had asked the pope to let him resign in a Sept. 29 letter. He thanked the priests and nuns of his diocese and asked “everyone to forgive me for my human limitations.” Kaszak was founded in 2009 by the then Pope Benedict XVI. appointed bishop after briefly serving as No. 2 in the Vatican’s family office.
The diocese identified the priest involved in the incident as Fr. Tomasz Z. largely confirmed media reports and said that an external investigative commission had concluded that he had committed “a very serious violation of moral norms” and his duties as a priest. It cited an “accident” that had occurred in the priest’s apartment and in which he and at least two other laypeople were involved. According to a statement posted on the diocese’s website, Kaszak relieved the priest of all duties on September 21 and initiated an internal canonical process, the outcome of which could lead to a suspension or even demotion to lay status.
Don Tomas defends himself. “A clear attack on the church, including the clergy and believers, in order to humiliate its position, tasks and mission,” the priest said in an emailed statement to the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, which broke the story.