On Friday, the apostolic nunciature in Poland imposed disciplinary measures against a 97-year-old cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz, according to the Catholic News Agency (CNA).
Gulbinowicz, who was born and educated in Lithuania, was accused of covering up a priest convicted of paedophilia in the diocese of Wrocław in Poland, as well as of committing sexual offences against minors.
A statement by the apostolic nunciature said that the cardinal will be subject to strict restrictions following an investigation by the Holy See.
It prohibited the cardinal from attending any public Mass and celebrations, as well as from using the bishop’s insignia. He will also not be able to have a funeral service and will not be buried in St John the Baptist Cathedral in Wrocław.
Gulbinowicz must also donate an “appropriate” sum of money to the St Joseph Foundation, established by the Polish bishops in 2019 to support abuse victims.
Gulbinowicz was born in Vilnius in 1923 and moved to Poland after the Second World War. Pope John Paul II appointed him a cardinal in 1985. Allegations against him included sexual abuse of a 15-year-old boy in 1989, as well as cover-up of a convicted paedophile priest.
This scandal is the third to shake Poland’s ecclesiastic hierarchy this year. Last month, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of a Polish bishop Edward Janiak,who was accused of sexually abusing minors.
Archbishop of Gdańsk Sławoj Leszek Głódź resigned in August after being accused of intimidating the clergy and cover-up of suspected sexual crimes.
In 2019, the Polish Bishops’ Conference issued a report which concluded that 382 clergymen sexually abused a total of 624 victims between 1990 and 2018, according to CNA.
Read more: Pastor in Lithuania found guilty of disseminating child pornography
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