Henryk Gulbinowicz, a Lithuanian-born cardinal sanctioned for sexual crimes by the Vatican, is also an honorary citizen of Vilnius District. However, the municipality plans to take no action to remove the title, or rename streets dedicated to him.
“Vilnius District Municipality is not a judicial institution. Therefore, it does not make decisions judging or condemning people,” Marija Rekst, mayor of the district, said.
The Social Democratic fraction of Vilnius District Municipality appealed to its mayor, the head of the administration, and council members to revoke Gulbinowicz’s honorary citizen status, but have not received a response.
“We have only been informed that the appeal has been registered. That’s it. We sent it to all council members, but none of them has reacted. It’s the first time I have encounter something like this,” Robert Duchenevič, one of the initiators of the appeal, said.
“It means that they are deliberately silent and being told to do so,” he added.
Duchenevič said that the mayor's comment about not judging people was strange because the Holy See has already sanctioned Gulbinowicz.
Read more: Vatican sanctions Lithuanian-born cardinal for sexual abuse
“Our procedures for awarding the title of honorary citizen make it clear that if a person was convicted and new circumstances were revealed, the title can be reconsidered,” Duchenevič explained.
The Social Democrats said they will appeal again and will encourage other parties to join them.
Last week, the Holy See announced disciplinary measure against a Lithuanian-born Polish cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz for committing and covering up sexual abuse.
Gulbinowicz was born in Vilnius in 1923 and moved to Poland after the Second World War. In the spring of 2019, a paedophilia scandal broke out in Poland, when the documentary Just Don’t Tell Anyone (Tylko nie mow nikomu) was released on YouTube.
The movie talked about the Polish priest Paweł Kania’s and sexual abuse against minors. The documentary also accused cardinal Gulbinowicz and archbishop of Wrocław Marian Gołębiewski for covering up Kania’s crimes despite having known about them since 2005.
After the movie came out, a former seminary student Przemysław Kowalczyk said Gulbinowicz sexually harassed him when he was 15 years old.
After the investigation, the Holy See prohibited Gulbinowicz from attending any public Mass and celebrations, using the bishop’s insignia, and being buried in Wrocław’s Cathedral.
In 2013, the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture awarded the Polish cardinal with a badge of honour. Jana Mikulevič, a ministry representative, told LRT.lt that the award will be revoked, but she did not comment on the legal basis of the decision.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
