The Polish Episcopal Conference has approved the creation of an Independent Experts Commission to investigate the phenomenon of sexual abuse of minors in the Church in Poland.
According to a statement from the spokesman of the Polish episcopate, Jesuit Leszek Gęsiak, the decision was adopted on March 11 during the 404th Plenary Assembly of the bishops, in which the operating rules and statute of the new body were also approved.
A commission with public legal personality
After approving the documents that regulate its operation, the bishops decided to formally establish the Independent Experts Commission for the investigation of sexual abuse of minors in the Church in Poland, also granting it public legal personality.
The episcopal conference explained that the commission’s statute was approved after consulting the Conference of Major Superiors of Male Religious Orders in Poland and the Conference of Major Superiors of Female Religious Congregations.
Additionally, the bishops also approved the agreement that will allow the formal creation of the body, which will be signed by the Polish Episcopal Conference together with the organizations representing the male and female religious congregations of the country.
Public presentation of the documents
The Polish Episcopal Conference announced that the texts of the approved documents will be published and explained in a press conference at the end of the plenary assembly.
The appearance is scheduled for March 12 at 3:00 PM, when more details will be given about the operation and objectives of the new commission.
With this decision, the Polish episcopate establishes a new body intended to investigate the phenomenon of sexual abuse against minors in the sphere of the Church in Poland.