Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś said he hopes that a nationwide commission made up of independent experts will be established at the next plenary meeting of the Polish Bishops’ Conference in March.
Ryś, who serves as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Kraków, added that if no such decision is taken, he will set up a commission at diocesan level.
In a statement issued on Monday, the spokesman for the Archdiocese of Kraków, Father Piotr Studnicki, said the commission would be tasked with examining abuse cases and creating a space in which those reporting harm could be heard and offered appropriate support.
This would be particularly important in situations where no formal investigation can be carried out against the accused, he said.
Recent allegations
The announcement follows allegations made against the late Bishop Jan Szkodoń, who died last year.
Zofia Schacht-Petersen, a former nun, told the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza that she was sexually abused by Szkodoń in the early 1990s.
She said the incident took place in 1991 at the bishop’s private apartment, when she sought his advice about her religious vocation.
She claimed she was seated on his lap and touched in a way she considers to have been sexual abuse.
Studnicki said a representative of Cardinal Ryś had contacted the women who made allegations against the late bishop, conveying the cardinal’s readiness to meet them in person.
The archdiocese's spokesman said that under civil and canon law, investigations cannot be conducted into deceased individuals, making the proposed commission particularly important for examining such cases and supporting those reporting abuse.
Szkodoń served as auxiliary bishop of Kraków from 1988 to 2022. He died in August last year.
(ał)
Source: PAP