Diocese apologizes for asking if child sex abuse victim is gay, enjoyed priest encounters

[left-of-center2012]

A Catholic diocese in Poland has apologized for asking the court whether a man who was sexually abused by a priest as a young boy was gay and whether he might have enjoyed the sexual encounters. Janusz Szymik, 48, was an altar boy when the abuse began in the 1980s. Last year he sued the diocese of Bielsko-Zywiec, in southern Poland, in a civil court claiming that a priest in a local church had abused several boys, including him. The priest, who has been identified only as Rev. Jan W., has admitted to the abuse. Szymik is seeking 3 million zlotys ($757,000) in compensation from the diocese for the abuse he suffered.

Earlier this week, the Polish news portal Onet published some documents which had been submitted to the court by a lawyer for the church. According to the documents, church officials wanted an expert “to check the plaintiff’s sexual orientation” and to determine whether he “showed satisfaction with maintaining an intimate relationship” with the man who abused him. They also wanted to know whether he gained “material benefits” from the sexual encounters with the priest.

In an interview with the Polish news station TVN24, Szymik noted that Bishop Roman Pindel of Bielsko-Zywiec had initially shown compassion toward him for the abuse he suffered as a young boy.

“Previously, he expressed pain and regret and asked for forgiveness, and now he wants to prove ... that I am a homosexual person, that pedophilia gave me pleasure, that everything that happened was voluntary, that I benefited from it,” he said.

On Thursday, the diocese apologized for the documents that asked whether Szymik was gay, and for suggesting that he had enjoyed the contact with the cleric. “We apologize to Janusz and to all who have been scandalized” by the questions, the diocese said in a statement, according to The Associated Press.

https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2022/01/diocese-apologizes-for-asking-if-child-sex-abuse-victim-is-gay-enjoyed-priest-encounters.html

[chowder66]

1. DISGUSTING. An apology isn't enough. nt

[keithbvadu2]

2. Blame the victim

Protect the church over the children.

[mahina]

3. Hideous.

[Leghorn21]

4. YOU SICK BASTARDS

FUCK YOU ALL

Dear congregants,
Run while you can

[AngryOldDem]

5. The hardball continues.

They used to try to blame parents for allowing their kids to be around priests in the first place. Maybe they still do, in some suits.

Christian charity goes only as far as preserving the assets at all costs. They’re ruthless.

[MagickMuffin]

6. Add another 3 million zlotys ($757,000) in compensation from the diocese

for the continued suffering the diocese has caused.


And I'd like to see Janusz Szymik use that money to create a center for abused victims of catholic sexual abuse. Seeing how the church tried to blame the victim shows you all you need to know about the pedophiles within the churches and not signaling out catholics.

[mzmolly]

7. WTF?