The Vatican has ordered an investigation into allegations that a now-retired archbishop in Poland was negligent in investigating reports of sex abuse of minors by priests in his Gdansk archdiocese.

The Vatican Embassy in predominantly Roman Catholic Poland said the archbishop of Warsaw had been assigned to conduct the probe and that the preliminary investigation into Archbishop Slawoj Leszek Glodz has been completed.

The embassy provided no details about the outcome in a statement issued this week.

Pope Francis accepted the cleric's resignation on his 75th birthday in August, a sign he was taking the allegations against the archbishop seriously.

The cleric, who had also served as the chief chaplain of Poland's armed force, denies any negligence.

Abuse survivors included the cleric in a report identifying two dozen current and retired Polish bishops accused of protecting predator priests.

The report was delivered to Francis on the eve of his 2019 global abuse prevention summit at the Vatican.