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Polish archbishop resigns after spying allegations
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Polish archbishop resigns after spying allegations
The newly appointed archbishop of Warsaw resigned yesterday after admitting he had spied for Poland?s former communist government, the Vatican?s mission in the Polish capital said. Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus, appointed by Pope Benedict on December 6, backed down on Friday from earlier denials that he had collaborated with the secret services during the communist era, in a row that has embarrassed the church in Catholic Poland and led to calls for his resignation.
The Vatican?s diplomatic mission (nunciature) in Poland said in a statement Pope Benedict had accepted Wielgus?s resignation. Poland?s Roman Catholic Church acknowledged that Wielgus was once a spy for the communist-era secret services, increasing the pressure on the archbishop ahead of his ceremonial appointment, which was to have taken place at 11 a.m. yesterday. Hundreds of faithful gathered in the rain in front of Warsaw?s cathedral, where the ceremony was to have been held, to pray for the future of the Catholic Church.
?I damaged the church again?
Wielgus was named by the Pope 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. In a statement issued on Friday, Wielgus appeared to back down from earlier denials in the row and to open the door for the Pope to remove him from office. ?By the fact of this entanglement I have damaged the church...I will respect any decision the Pope makes,? Wielgus said in a statement on the church?s Web site. ?I damaged the church again when in recent days, amid a hot media campaign, I denied the facts of this cooperation.? Soon after his appointment, Polish media reported Wielgus had informed on fellow clerics for about 20 years from the late 1960s.
In Friday?s statement he maintained that he ?did not report on anyone nor deliberately try to hurt anyone.? A special church commission said in a statement there was enough evidence to confirm that he was a willing informer. Wielgus formally took up his job on Friday and was due to be ceremonially invested at a mass yesterday attended by the president and other government officials.
Natalia REITER
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