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Pope Francis accepted the resignation of a bishop in Poland whose diocese has been shaken by a slew of sex scandals.
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Bishop Grzegorz Kaszak resigned Tuesday as head of the diocese of Sosnowiec, in southwestern Poland.
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The Vatican did not give a reason for the 59-year-old’s resignation but his diocese has made headlines around the world for multiple scandals.
The most recent embarrassment involved one of his priests being placed under a criminal investigation allegedly over a “gay orgy” that involved a male sex worker at the cleric’s apartment, the AP reported.
Polish media reported one of the attendees at the August sex party allegedly overdosed on erectile dysfunction pills.
Local outlets alleged the priest, identified only as Fr. Tomasz Z., tried to stop paramedics from entering his home. But he staunchly denied those claims.
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The investigation focused on a “failure to provide assistance to a person in a situation that poses an immediate threat of loss of life or serious damage to health,” Waldemar Lubniewski, spokesman for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Sosnowiec, told the AP.
The diocese, for the most part, corroborated the media reports, saying an outside investigation concluded the priest committed “a very serious violation of moral norms,” as well as his obligations as a priest, citing an “incident” at the priest’s apartment involving him and two others.
For several years, people in Poland have been undergoing a fast process of secularization, with many not only rejecting religion but some going the extra step to formally leave the church.
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The alleged orgy wasn’t the first incident involving clergy in the Polish diocese that was made public.
In 2010, the then-acting rector of the Sosnowiec seminary allegedly got into a fight at a gay club, but he stayed in his role for more than a year, even after the altercation was reported by local media.
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However, the Holy See eventually intervened and dissolved the seminary altogether, according to the state-run news agency PAP.
Earlier this year, the body of a 26-year-old deacon was found with injuries suggesting homicide.
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Local prosecutors alleged a 40-year-old priest, who took his own life, was responsible.
They said the two had been in a relationship for some time and the priest had threatened the deacon before their deaths.
Fr. Tomasz was dismissed after the latest scandal, PAP reported, with the diocese calling his behaviour “a cause of great scandal for the faithful and justified indignation of public opinion.”
Kaszak revealed in a statement that he, in turn, had asked Pope Francis to allow him to resign on Sept. 29.
He thanked the priests and nuns of his diocese and asked “everyone to forgive my human limitations.”
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