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	Crisis in the Polish Church By Father Richard P. McBrien The Tidings February 9, 2007 http://www.the-tidings.com/2007/020907/essays.htm The crisis in the Polish Church, involving the reported collaboration of 10-15% of its clergy with the security forces of the former Communist government, bears an unpleasant resemblance to the sexual-abuse scandal that erupted in the United States five years ago almost to the day. In both cases, it was the media which first exposed the corruption that church officials had been covering up to avoid scandal and damage to the reputation of the Church and its priesthood. Initial denials were later refuted by the disclosure of evidence to the contrary. As that evidence began to dribble out piece-meal, the story grew "legs," to use a term common among journalists. Instead of being a one- or two-day story, it developed into a full-blown mini-series. Accusatory fingers were pointed in various directions. The media were blamed first. Then homosexual priests. Then bishops who covered up their crimes and transferred the perpetrators from parish to parish, thereby exposing other children and young people to further harm. What follows are the basic facts in the case: Stanislaw Wielgus, formerly bishop of Plock, to which he had been appointed by Pope John Paul II, was named by Pope Benedict XVI to succeed Cardinal Jozef Glemp as archbishop of Warsaw and primate of Poland. Bishop Wielgus took the canonical oath of office on Friday, January 5, and became at that moment the archbishop of Warsaw. He was to be formally installed in the Warsaw cathedral on the following Sunday, January 7. At that Mass, and before being seated in the cathedral chair, a symbol of the archbishop's pastoral authority, Wielgus announced his resignation from office, having tendered it to the Vatican shortly beforehand. Pope Benedict XVI, who had previously expressed "every confidence" in Bishop Wielgus, had immediately accepted the resignation and Cardinal Glemp was ordered to continue in office as interim archbishop. Hereafter, there are conflicting interpretations of various elements of the story. What seems clear is that then-Father Wielgus had been involved with Communist Poland's security service (known as the SB, an abbreviation for "Sluzba Bezpieczenstwa") since the early 1970s, when he applied to the government for permission to study at the University of Munich. In return for this permission, he signed a document pledging cooperation with the SB, a relationship that apparently continued until the end of Communist rule. Although Bishop Wielgus admitted some details of his past to Vatican officials and, he claims, to Pope Benedict himself before being appointed to Warsaw, he evidently did not reveal everything, having been assured, it is said, that all relevant documents had been destroyed. According to the New York Times, "Many believed that the pope changed his mind after personally reviewing the documents in question or at the urging of Polish government officials" (Jan. 8). Indeed, when Archbishop Wielgus dramatically announced his resignation during the Mass of installation, the president of Poland, seated at the front of the congregation, applauded, and then stopped once he realized that many in the crowd were shouting against the resignation and in support of Wielgus. And when Cardinal Glemp subsequently ascended the pulpit, he, too, expressed strong support for his designated successor and denounced those who had disclosed the incriminating information as enemies of the Church. But who was at fault in making the appointment in the first place? Archbishop Wielgus insists that he revealed everything about his past to Vatican officials, including the pope. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, head of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, and the Vatican nuncio to Poland both attested that Wielgus denied allegations of wrongdoing. Remarkably, they seemed to have accepted his denials at face-value. Only after the dramatic public resignation did Cardinal Re deny that Wielgus had disclosed details of his past association with the secret police (Associated Press, Jan. 12). Perhaps the most surprising item to emerge in this story is that Pope John Paul II himself, a fierce opponent of Communist rule in Poland, had known for years about the collaboration of clergy with the security service and, as in the sexual-abuse crisis, chose not to address it head-on. The pope's former press officer, Dr. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, acknowledged this in a column published on Jan. 8 in the Italian daily La Repubblica and reported in the New York Times on Jan. 10. Was Stanislaw Wielgus the choice of John Paul II before he died, or, as Rome reporter Marco Politi insists, was he Benedict XVI's personal choice, in spite of his general knowledge of the bishop's background? This is only one of many questions that remain to be answered. Everything will eventually come to light, just as it did in the sexual-abuse scandal. Father Richard P. McBrien is the Crowley-O'Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.
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