The bishops now elected the commission chief.
The Krakow historian Piotr Franaszek (71) is to lead the commission planned by the Polish bishops for the investigation of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
This was announced by the Bishops’ Conference on Saturday in Zakopane, southern Poland, after the conclusion of its general assembly.
The Commission has been tasked with determining the extent of the sexual abuse of minors in the dioceses and religious communities since 1945. When she starts her work is still open.
The bishops elected Franaszek as commission chief in consultation with the Orders of Men and Women. The emeritus history professor of the University of Krakow is associated with a monastery as a so-called Benedictine oblate, but layman. His professional field is the social and economic history of the 19th and 20th. century. From 2006 to 2010 he sat for the right-wing conservative party PiS in the Krakow City Council.
"At the very beginning"
Bishop Slawomir Oder spoke of a milestone on the way to the commencement of the Commission's work. The bishops would have adopted the Commission's revised statute. It will now be submitted to the competent ministry in order to continue the procedure for obtaining the legal personality.
Chairman-designate Franaszek said at the joint press conference: "We are at the very beginning, but we have a convened commission, a statute and a chairman." The remaining members of the panel have not yet been appointed. The Commission will be composed of experts with relevant expertise, Franaszek said.
Doubts of those affected
Robert Fidura, a well-known abuse victim, reacted in surprise to the historian's appeal. Franaszek is completely unknown to him, he told the Catholic News Agency (KNA). “I have never heard of him on the subject of sexual abuse in the Church.”
He was worried by reports that Franaszek PiS chief executive Jaroslaw Kaczynski was very close, according to Fidura. "I hope that the professor will leave his political connections aside and prove to be completely impartial and independent."
Already in March 2023, the bishops had decided to investigate abuse by an independent commission.
However, their complete instigation has not yet taken place. Most recently, Polish ministries had objected to the statutes submitted, which regulates, among other things, the working principles, and demanded changes.
The bishops' conference calls the panel "Commission of Independent Experts to Investigate the Phenomenon of Sexual Abuse of Minors in the Catholic Church in Poland."