Priest Linked to Laicised Nuncio Charged with Ten Counts of Abuse

By Jonathan Luxmoore
The Tablet
November 10, 2014

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/1375/0/polish-priest-linked-to-laicised-nuncio-charged-with-ten-counts-of-abuse

A Polish priest has been charged with 10 counts of sex abuse in connection with the case of the laicised Polish former nuncio to the Dominican Republic, Jozef Wesolowski.

In a statement, Warsaw's District Procurator said the charges against Fr Wojciech Gil had followed over 100 witness testimonies during a year-long investigation, and covered offences in Poland and the Dominican Republic between 2001 and 2013.

It added that the priest, who was suspended last year, also faced counts of possession of child pornography and illegal possession of a handgun and ammunition. Prosecutors said 91,000 images and over 400 films involving child pornography were found on the priest's computer hard drive.

Fr Gil, a member of the Michaelite order, was arrested during a holiday in Krakow last February and suspended from priestly duties, during the preparation of charges against Archbishop Wesolowski, who was defrocked in June and is currently under pre-trial house arrest in the Vatican. Prosecutors have not yet detailed how Fr Gil was connected with the disgraced ex-nuncio.

A Warsaw court spokesman, Przemyslaw Nowak, confirmed to Poland's Catholic information agency last month the case against the priest, who faces up to 15 years in jail, was linked to investigations into crimes by Wesolowski, who is expected to appear in a Vatican court at the end of the year.

The spokesman for Fr Gil's order of St Michael the Archangel, Fr Tadeusz Musz, told Poland's Catholic Information Agency (KAI) the order was waiting for the charges to be heard in court. "They all relate to small children – can anything be sadder than that?" Fr Musz said last week.

"I can only express our greatest pain that these accusations affect young people, especially those who were in care, and concern actions by a priest from whom something quite different should have been expected."

Poland's Catholic Bishops' Conference apologised for abuse by priests a year ago and named a Jesuit, Fr Adam Zak, as its child protection officer, after criticism of its failure to take effective action. The Church also announced plans in October for a network of counselling centres for abuse victims, but has rejected calls for financial compensation.