Pope Francis’ representatives in Poland said Saturday that he had accepted the resignation of an archbishop is accused in a documentary of turning a blind eye against child abuse.
The documentary from the news channel TVN24 in 2021 claimed that priest Andrzej Dymer, who died this year, had abused children and that the Archbishop of the Diocese of Stettin-Kamien, Andrzej Dziega, knew about it since 1995 but took no action.
“The Holy Father Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Andrzej Dziega from his post as Metropolitan Archbishop of Szczecin-Kamien,” the Apostolic Nunciature of Poland, the equivalent of the Vatican Embassy, said on its website.
A statement on the website of the Archdiocese of Stettin-Kamien also said that Dziega was retiring.
None of the statements referred to the allegations against Dziegawho had been Metropolitan Archbishop of Stettin-Kamien since 2009.
The archdiocese did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Dziega could not be reached for comment.
Polish media reported that Dymer was convicted by a church court in 2008 of sexually abusing minors. Dymer filed an appeal, but it was not heard before his death.
According to the newspaper portal Gazeta Wyborcza, in a new episode of the series of pedophilia cases within the Polish Catholic Church, the files of two internal trials were sent to the Vatican.
Poland, one of Europe’s most devout Catholic countries, has experienced a number of child abuse scandals, and the church said two years ago that it had committed cases of child abuse between July 1, 2018 and December 31, 2020 368 reports related to child abuse.
According to 2021 census data, 71 percent of the population identifies as Catholic.
With information from AFP.
ORP