A Catholic diocese in Poland apologised on Thursday for having requested a court docket to find out whether or not a person who was sexually abused as a toddler by a priest is homosexual, and whether or not the sexual contact might have consequently been pleasurable for him.
Following huge criticism, the Bielsko-Zywiec diocese stated that its letter to the court docket shouldn’t have included questions in regards to the sufferer’s sexuality or have urged that he drew pleasure from contact with the priest. The diocese dispatched the letter in response to a lawsuit by the sufferer, Janusz Szymik.
‘We apologise to Janusz and to all who’ve been scandalised’ by the questions, the diocese stated in an announcement, vowing to alter the letter’s wording.
Bielsko-Zywiec diocese in Poland apologised for asking whether or not a intercourse abuse sufferer was homosexual or loved the ‘intimate’ moments
Poland’s Catholic bishops had already strongly criticised the southern Polish diocese.
Szymik, who’s now 48, was an altar boy when the abuse started within the Nineteen Eighties. He sued the diocese in a civil court docket final 12 months.
The priest, who has been recognized solely as Rev. Jan W., admitted to the abuse and in 2015 was convicted by the Vatican’s Congregation of the Doctrine of the Religion.
Szymik is now looking for 3 million zlotys ($760,000) in compensation from the diocese.
The Onet information portal earlier this week disclosed the contents of paperwork it obtained which a lawyer for the church had submitted to the court docket. The paperwork present the church wanting an knowledgeable “to verify the plaintiff’s sexual orientation” and to find out whether or not he “confirmed satisfaction with sustaining an intimate relationship with Rev. Jan W.” or derived any “materials advantages” from the sexual relationship with the cleric.
Rev. Piotr Studnicki, the director of a particular workplace for the safety of kids inside the Polish Bishops’ Convention, stated in an announcement issued on Wednesday that “dependable data and human sensitivity” are essential to any authorized process.
“The difficulty of sexual orientation or the way in which a toddler reacts emotionally to an offense of sexual abuse can not represent an argument towards the injured particular person and diminish the duty of the perpetrator,” Studnicki stated. “It should be clear to everybody {that a} baby by no means bears duty for violence skilled.”
Szymik expressed shock about how the case has turned, noting that Bishop Roman Pindel of Bielsko-Zywiec had beforehand proven compassion towards him for the abuse he suffered as a toddler.
“Beforehand, he expressed ache and remorse and requested for forgiveness, and now he needs to show … that I’m a gay particular person, that pedophilia gave me pleasure, that every thing that occurred was voluntary, that I benefited from it,” Szymik stated in an interview on the all-news station TVN24.
The event comes as Pope Francis has been making an attempt to wash up a tradition of abuse and cover-ups within the Polish church.
The Catholic Church was lengthy the best ethical authority in Poland, having performed an inspirational position throughout occupation and overseas rule and supporting the anti-communist Solidarity motion within the Nineteen Eighties.
However the current reckoning of abuse has broken its credibility. Even Poland’s most well-known Catholic, St. John Paul II, now has his legacy tarnished by his personal failure to sort out abuse when he was pope.
One of many nation’s high church leaders, Archbishop Wojciech Polak, the primate of Poland, stated lately that the church is seeing a “devastating” decline in spiritual apply amongst younger Poles, arguing that the church hierarchy’s failure to cope with clerical abuse is one purpose for that.