At least 50 children abused in Catholic diocese in Poland, finds church commission

A commission set up to investigate child sex abuse in a Catholic diocese in Poland following a series of scandals there has identified at least 50 children who were harmed and 29 people suspected of abusing minors, most of them members of the clergy.

It also revealed that local bishops had repeatedly failed to take action when credible reports of abuse were submitted to them.

The commission was established in October 2024 in the diocese of Sosnowiec in southern Poland following a number of high-profile incidents.

That same month, two local priests were charged with sexual offences against minors. The previous year, the bishop of Sosnowiec, Grzegorz Kaszak, had resigned following a scandal over a drug-fuelled sex party a local priest held with two men in his church apartment.

“The immediate goal of the commission’s work was to reach out to those who had been harmed and to offer them assistance,” said Tomasz Smalcerz, an official at the diocesan office.

“The objectives also included identifying the sources, explaining the causes, scope and impact of the scandals that had occurred in the diocese of Sosnowiec since its establishment,” he added. “The long-term goal is to restore trust in the church community and clergy.”

Presenting their findings on Thursday, the commission’s chairman, Tomasz Krzyżak, said that they had identified 29 people accused or suspected of sexual abuse of minors. Among the 50 identified victims, around two-thirds were girls, and 96% were under the age of 15.

Of the 29 abusers, 23 are clergy affiliated with the diocese, two are clergy from another diocese, and the other four are lay people: an organist, a catechist, a seminarian and a youth community leader.

Out of the 23 diocesan priests, 19 have been confirmed as having committed sexual offences against minors in investigations carried out by church or state authorities.

The commission itself has reported suspected crimes concerning eight individuals to prosecutors and initiated five preliminary internal church investigations.

Krzyżak revealed that, of the 19 priests confirmed to have committed sexual offences against minors, six have so far received internal church disciplinary actions, including two who were dismissed from the priesthood.

Another was given a lifetime ban from priestly ministry and contact with minors. Others received various forms of bans, while in one case, canonical proceedings are ongoing. Four alleged perpetrators are deceased.

In November 2025, the trial began of a 54-year-old priest from the Sosnowiec diocese, who can be named only as Ryszard G. under Polish privacy law, on three charges involving minors, including two of a sexual nature.

In December, prosecutors filed an indictment against another priest from the diocese, Jacek K., accusing him of nine sexual offences against seven minors, alleging he exploited their vulnerable circumstances.

The commission reviewed documents dating from the establishment of the diocese in 1992 up to January last year. Krzyżak noted that, over that time, bishops were repeatedly alerted to the abuse of minors.

“This information came from reliable sources, from people known to the bishop. Nevertheless, no action was taken in that situation,” said the chairman, quoted by broadcaster TVN.

“The trivialisation of this problem and the inappropriate assessment of events led to the fact that those reporting crimes were not believed,” added Krzyżak.

Meanwhile, where action was taken, “the aim was not to punish the perpetrator of the crime, but most often to remedy the situation through so-called pastoral care measures, which consisted of transferring the clergyman to another parish”.

Poland’s Catholic church has in recent years faced a growing number of claims of sexual abuse by clergy and of negligence in dealing with the issue by bishops.

The Vatican has taken action against a number of Polish bishops over the issue. Most recently, in 2024, the Vatican announced the resignation of the bishop of Łowicz, Andrzej Dziuba, due to his “negligence in handling cases of sexual abuse against minors”.

The current bishop of Sosnowiec, Artur Ważny, on Thursday emphasised the need for further canonical investigations and cooperation with secular law enforcement agencies.  “There is no place among the clergy for people who harm the most vulnerable,” he said.