The Apostolic Nunciature in Poland has announced the reasons for Pope Francis' acceptance of Andrzej Dziega's resignation as Archbishop of Szczecin-Cammin (Szczecin-Kamien).
An official letter published on the nunciature's website on Monday states that an investigation commissioned by the Holy See had found inconsistencies in the "administration of the diocese and in particular the negligence mentioned in the papal letter 'Vos estis lux mundi'".
"Vox estis lux mundi" (German: You are the light of the world) is a papal letter from 2019 that contains canonical regulations and instructions on how to deal with sexual abuse in the church.
Cover-up allegations made the headlines
On Saturday, the Vatican press office announced that Pope Francis had accepted Dziega's resignation. No reasons were given. At 71, Dziega had not yet reached the usual age limit of 75.
The nunciature therefore felt compelled to answer "questions that arose in connection with the archbishop's resignation".
Cover-up allegations against bishops in Poland made headlines at the end of 2020.
The churchmen are said to have covered up the sexual abuse of children by clergymen.
The case of a clergyman from the western Polish archdiocese of Szczecin-Cammin caused uproar and outrage.
The clergyman is alleged to have abused four boys from a children's home in the early 1990s.
The accusation: the church had known about it since 1995, but did nothing about it.