Polish Bishop Andrzej Jez was convicted on Thursday of failing to notify authorities about the sexual abuse of minors by two priests from his diocese, in the highest-profile case of its kind involving a Catholic Church leader in Poland.
The case is the latest in a series of clergy abuse scandals that have eroded trust in the church in one of Europe's most devoutly Catholic nations.
• In 2024, a bishop and an archbishop resigned over negligence in handling sexual abuse cases
• The court in the southern city of Tarnow sentenced Jez to two years of restriction of liberty to be carried out through deductions from his salary, PAP news agency reported. The verdict is not final
• Jez had pleaded not guilty to the charges. In his testimony, he explained the delay in reporting by citing the ambiguity of criminal regulations and the specific circumstances of the individual cases, PAP said
• While many Poles still regard the Catholic faith as a core part of their national identity, cases of sexual abuse involving priests mean increasing numbers say they have lost confidence in the church
• A 2025 poll by Polish pollster IBRiS showed that the percentage of Poles who say they trust the Catholic Church had fallen to 35% from 58% in 2016