Archbishop Apologises for "Slip of the Tongue" Claims That Paedophilia Is Caused by Divorce

Daily Mail
October 11, 2013

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2453893/Archbishop-Jozef-Michalik-apologises-claims-paedophilia-caused-divorce.html

Controversy: Archbishop Jozef Michalik has apologised for his comments appearing to blame divorce for paedophilia

The top Catholic bishop in Poland has apologised for blaming divorce for encouraging paedophilia in comments that the church have described as 'a slip of the tongue'.

Archbishop Jozef Michalik sparked outrage when he said earlier this week that sex abuse was the result of people 'looking for love', and appeared to suggest that divorce could be just as harmful to children as paedophilia.

But he has since apologised for the anger caused by his comments and claimed that they were taken out of context.

After his comments sparked fury among Polish social media users, the episcopate called a press conference in a bid to try and calm the situation.

His spokesman said that his comments had been a 'pure slip of the tongue'.

Archbishop Michalik added: 'The context of my comment was as follows: "A child is always innocent. But it can be hurt not only by priests but also by its own environment".'

His initial comments came as Poland's Catholic church faces mounting allegations of priests sexually abusing children.

'Many of these cases of molestation could be avoided given a healthy relationship between parents,' Archbishop Michalik had told the PAP news agency.

'We often hear that this inappropriate attitude [i.e. paedophilia], or abuse, manifests itself when a child is looking for love.

'It clings, it searches. It gets lost itself and then draws another person into this.'

While condemning paedophile priests 'whom neither the Church nor anyone else can accept,' the cleric also spoke out against divorce as being harmful to children.

'How many wounds are their in children's hearts, in children's lives, when their parents go their separate ways,' he said.

'Today nobody talks about divorce doing great harm to a child. It's obvious that sex abuse does great harm, one can't forget about it, but it's not the only thing.'

In an unprecedented move, Polish church leaders apologised earlier this month for the actions of alleged paedophile priests, as prosecutors began probes against two high-profile suspects.

Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, a 65-year-old Pole who served as a papal envoy in the Dominican Republic for five years, is being investigated for allegedly having sex with teenage boys.

While condemning paedophile priests 'whom neither the Church nor anyone else can accept,' the cleric also spoke out against divorce as being harmful to children

Authorities in the Caribbean country are also investigating Wojciech Gil, a 36-year-old priest suspected of raping several young boys while serving there.

Gil told Polish media last week the allegations were fabricated, claiming that Dominican drug gangs were trying to frame him.

Despite the apology, Church leaders in Poland insist they will not be offering victims any material compensation.

Unlike in countries such as the U.S. and Ireland, child sex abuse by priests in Poland has been a largely taboo subject and has so far not provoked widespread public outcry.