POLAND/VATICAN: Polish Archbishop resigns after spying accusations but Vatican hits back at criticism.

Record ID: 745387

  • Title: POLAND/VATICAN: Polish Archbishop resigns after spying accusations but Vatican hits back at criticism.
  • Date: 8th January 2007
  • Summary: (BN11) WARSAW, POLAND (JANUARY 7, 2007 (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WIELGUS SUPPORTERS GATHERED IN FRONT OF CATHEDRAL
  • Embargoed: 23rd January 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA68AE1G94L318VH2Q5EJOLOLZX
  • Story Text: The newly-appointed archbishop of Warsaw resigned on Sunday (January 7) after admitting he spied for Poland's former communist regime, in a major embarrassment for the Vatican and the powerful Polish Catholic Church. The Vatican hit back at its critics on Sunday, saying the Catholic Church had been the victim of a vendetta from its old communist foes. The Archbishop of Warsaw resigned during a mass that was to have been his swearing in ceremony on Sunday (January 7), after admitting that he had been a spy for Poland's former communist regime.
    Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus read out his resignation, which came at the request of Pope Benedict who appointed him just a month ago, at a special mass in Warsaw Cathedral replacing a formal ceremony that was to have sworn him in.
    "In accordance with (Canon law) I submit to your Holiness my resignation as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Warsaw," said Wielgus, who on Friday backed down from repeated denials that he collaborated with the secret services during the communist era.
    Hundreds of supporters gathered in the rain in front of the cathedral and cheered in support of Wielgus, yelling "Stay with us", a chant used by crowds during visits to his homeland by the late Polish-born Pope John Paul.
    The Vatican's diplomatic mission in Poland said in a statement that Wielgus has been asked to resign.
    A spokesman for the Polish episcopate said the legal basis for the resignation was a part of church law requiring a bishop to resign if he is "unable to properly exercise his office (and therefore) is strongly requested to submit his resignation".
    Wielgus's conduct "gravely compromised his authority," and his resignation was an "adequate solution" despite his humble and moving request for pardon, the Vatican's top spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said.
    The episode was a "moment of great suffering for the Church," he said.
    But Lombardi also said Wielgus was not the first and probably not the last Polish Church figure to be attacked on the basis of communist-era documents, which he said must be valued as a "product of officials from an oppressive and blackmailing regime."
    "We must not forget that the documentary material in question was produced by functionaries of an oppressive regime that operated systematically in blackmail, " Lombardi said in a statement aired on Italy's Rai television.
    The incident has turned into a major embarrassment for Poland's powerful Catholic Church and for the Vatican which stood by Wielgus while the allegations grew.
    The Church was a key support for Poland's pro-democracy Solidarity movement during the 1980s but historians say as many as 10 percent of the clergy could have cooperated with the Soviet-backed regime.
    In his statement, Lombardi added that the Church was not afraid of the truth and urged followers to pray for and encourage the Polish Church at his time.
    "The truth will set you free, says the Christ. The church does not fear the truth and in order to be faithful to her Lord, the members must recognise their faults. Our hope for the church in Poland is that she find a way to live through and overcome this diffuclt period with surrender and lucidity so she can continue to give her extraordinary contribution of faith and evangelical zeal to the church in Europe and to the universal church," he said.
    A finding last week by a special Polish Church commission that Wielgus had collaborated with communist-era secret police increased pressure on him ahead of his ceremonial installation, which was to have taken place at 11 a.m. (1000 GMT) on Sunday.
    Wielgus was named by the Pope on December 6 to succeed the retiring Cardinal Jozef Glemp, a figurehead of the long struggle against communism, in one of the most influential positions in the Polish church hierarchy.
    The Vatican's mission said Glemp, who remains the primate of the overwhemingly Catholic country, will temporarily take back the position of Warsaw archbishop.
    Glemp told the mass that Wielgus should not be judged too harshly for his actions during the communist era as many Poles had been forced to compromise in that period, which began after World War Two and ended in 1989.
    Poland is still struggling to come to terms with its communist past.
    The Church was a key support for the pro-democracy Solidarity movement during the 1980s but historians say as much as 10 percent of the clergy could have cooperated with the Soviet-backed regime and its feared secret police.
    Wielgus's acknowledgement on Friday that he had collaborated opened the door for the Pope to remove him from office but he did not resign until the day of the official ceremony.
    Soon after his appointment, Polish media reported that Wielgus had informed on fellow clerics for about 20 years from the late 1960s.
    In Friday's statement, Wielgus said he "did not report on anyone nor deliberately try to hurt anyone".
    But the Church commission said in a statement there was enough evidence to confirm that he was a willing informer.
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