SOSNOWIEC, Poland (ChurchMilitant.com) – A Polish bishop has quit after a national scandal involving priests in a homosexual orgy that ended with a male prostitute suffering a heart attack from a Viagra overdose.
Protesting the gay orgy, parishioner sets fire to basilica
The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that Pope Francis had accepted the resignation of 59-year-old Bp. Grzegorz Kaszak from the pastoral governance of the scandal-plagued Sosnowiec diocese, leading to speculation that the bishop was asked to resign.
The bishop’s resignation follows an Oct. 6 online petition from Catholics pleading with Pope Francis to dismiss Kaszak and create a Vatican commission “with the participation of lay people that will restore faith in the honesty and transparency of the Church.”
“We cannot remain silent when scandals that have been shocking us for years have not been clarified,” the petition stated. “We cannot remain silent when sexual scandals are tearing the Body of Christ; we cannot remain silent when we see no response to our complaints regarding specific, shocking cases among priests.”
“In the light of recent events that have shocked the hearts not only of the faithful but of everyone who believes in human dignity and righteousness, we call on the bishop of Sosnowiec, Grzegorz Kaszak, to make the most difficult decision in his ministry — his resignation,” the petition demanded.
On Tuesday, Bp. Kaszak posted a farewell letter on the diocesan website thanking the faithful “for their effort and dedication in building the church of Sosnowiec.”
“I also ask everyone to forgive my human limitations,” wrote Bp. Kaszak. “If I have offended anyone or neglected something, I am very sorry.”
Philosopher and ethicist Fr. Andrzej Kobyliński told Polish media that “the Vatican had no choice” since “the cup of bitterness has overflowed when it comes to the endless scandals in the Sosnowiec diocese.”
“Already in 2012, a homosexual scandal with the rector of the Sosnowiec seminary came to light, which led to the closure of this institution,” the Krakow-based priest remarked. “This diocese has an extremely difficult future ahead of it. I don’t know if moral renewal is possible among the clergy of this diocese.”
Father Kobyliński revealed that he had received several letters from Sosnowiec priests with complaints about the sexual misdemeanors among errant priests, and he had “regularly forwarded them to the Apostolic Nunciature, but there was no reaction at that time.”
Police and ambulance services forced entry into an apartment where a sex party had been organized by Fr. Tomasz Zmarzły, editor of the Catholic weekly Niedziela Sosnowiecka, after the priest refused to let them in, Church Militant reported.
Father Zmarzły, who also serves as a priest at the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Angels in the town of Dąbrowa Górnicza, had invited two other priests and a male escort to the “bunga bunga” party on the night of Aug. 30.
Fr. Andrzej Kobyliński
The orgy went awry when the rent boy keeled over from an overdose of erectile dysfunction pills. One of the priests called an ambulance, but when paramedics arrived, Fr. Zmarzły and another priest refused to open the door of the apartment, which is owned by the Catholic weekly.
As the situation became increasingly tense, paramedics called for the police to intervene. The emergency services found the male escort lying on the floor, unconscious. He was taken to a hospital, where he later recovered and discharged himself.
Waldemar Łubniewski, the spokesman for the Sosnowiec district prosecutor, said that police have begun an investigation into the failure to assist a person in a situation that poses an immediate threat of loss of life or serious damage to health.
In a statement published on the diocesan website, Bp. Kaszak asked his priests “to do penance and celebrate an expiatory Mass to make reparation to the Lord God and to sustain the souls of the faithful who are suffering greatly because of what happened.”
The bishop’s letter, which was read out at all parishes in the diocese, urged the faithful “to pray and support, as much as you can, the hurting and ashamed priests” as well as nuns and catechists “who have done nothing wrong but suffer a lot and find it very difficult.”
Events took a dramatic turn when a parishioner set fire to the doors of the basilica in Dąbrowa Górnicza in protest against the priests’ gay orgy. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, and police detained a man suspected of starting the fire.
