WARSAW (POLAND)
SNAP - Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [Chicago IL]
May 13, 2021
At the end of a Vatican-led investigation into alleged negligence in handling cases of child sexual abuse, Bishop Jan Tyrawa of Poland submitted his resignation to the Pope. Today, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of the 72-year-old prelate.
We applaud the Catholic Church for looking into the accusations against Bishop Tyrawa, which ultimately led to his resignation. However, we remain concerned about the lack of transparency on the findings of this investigation. In our view, the results of the inquiry are even more crucial than the fact that a probe was launched. Accountability, responsibility, and openness merge to expose the truth. Only by knowing what went wrong in the past can we protect today’s children.
Poland, like other countries around the world, has been plagued by the scandal of child sex abuse within the Church. We commend the brave survivors who came forward to authorities to shed light on this darkness. In addition, we again call for the mandatory inclusion of lay-people in all such probes. Finally, we believe that unless the results of this and every other Vos Estis investigation are made public, solutions to the Catholic crisis will remain elusive.
CONTACT: Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications Manager (267-261-0578, mmcdonnell@snapnetwork.org), Zach Hiner, SNAP Executive Director (517-974-9009, zhiner@snapnetwork.org)