ROME: Pope John Paul's Holy Thursday celebrations in the Vatican yesterday were marred by the announcement of the resignation of his compatriot, the Archbishop of Poznan, Archbishop Juliusz Paetz, who has been accused of rampant homosexual activity with seminarians and priests.
Archbishop Paetz (67), who once worked with the Pope at the Vatican, announced his retirement whilst celebrating Mass yesterday in Poznan cathedral, saying he had done so "for the good of the Church".
His resignation comes a month after the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported that the Pope had in November ordered an inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct by Archbishop Paetz, after being informed of the matter by a Polish friend.
"The Holy Father was shocked. He sent a commission to Poznan,whose findings have fully confirmed the accusations of the sexual harassment by the archbishop," Rzeczpospolita reported.
Although Archbishop Paetz denies the accusations, Rzeczpospolitia claimed that his "homosexual inclinations" had been widely known for two years, that local priests in Poznan had waged a campaign to have him removed and that he had been refused access to a seminary by its rector.
The archbishop is also alleged to have used an underground tunnel to pay unannounced visits to the lodgings of seminarians.
According to the Bishop of Poznan, Dr Zdzislaw Fortuniak, Archbishop Paetz felt "wronged and ill-treated" by the allegations in Rzeczpospolita. In a subsequent letter to Church deans, the archbishop issued a vehement denial, writing: "I have never molested - repeat, never molested - our seminarians and priests. I would like to look in the faces of those who have accused me."
Archbishop Paetz is believed to be the highest ranking Catholic priest to resign over a sex scandal since Austrian Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer was forced into retirement in 1995 amidst allegations of sexual abuse of former students.
His resignation comes exactly a week after the Pope, in his annual pre-Easter letter to priests worldwide, appeared to make reference to those priests involved in sexual abuse and paedophile scandals when lamenting the "sins of some of our brothers" who have succumbed to "the most grievous form of evil at work in the the world".
Even yesterday, during the Holy Thursday Mass at which priests renew their vows of ordination, the Pope appeared to touch on the theme of sexual scandals. In a remark which might have been a direct reference to Archbishop Paetz, he called on the faithful to pray for "those of our brothers who have failed to live up to the commitments undertaken at their ordination or who are going through a period of difficulty or crisis".
If Archbishop Paetz's resignation is linked to the Vatican inquiry, then it may well represent the implementation of new rules laid down last April by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, but made public only in January. These deal with what Colombian Cardinal Dr Dario Castrillon Hoyos last week called a "whole series of grave crimes against the holiness of the Sacraments".
The guidelines were called for by the Pope in the face of high-profile scandals which have besmirched the Church not only in the US and France but also in other countries, including Ireland.