Polish court acquits men in toppling of priest statue
Source: Associated Press
Polish court acquits men in toppling of priest statue
November 7, 2022
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Gdansk district court on Monday acquitted three men who in 2019 toppled a statue of a late priest suspected of sexually abusing minors, a symbolic moment in the traditionally Catholic country’s reckoning with clerical abuse.
The priest, Henryk Jankowski, who died in 2010, rose to prominence in the 1980s through his support for the pro-democracy Solidarity movement and its leader, Lech Walesa, in their struggle against Poland’s communist regime.
As evidence mounted after his death about his alleged abuse of boys and girls, officials at first refused to take down a statue honoring him, so the three activists decided to act.
The three — Konrad Korzeniowski, Rafal Suszek and Michal Wojcieszczuk — pulled it down one night in February 2019. They then called the police to report themselves, and also issued a manifesto explaining they had acted for the good of the community.
-snip-
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/europe-religion-poland-sexual-abuse-by-clergy-lech-walesa-32ca5a92db1026b846dd6e0da97b3acf
FILE - Activists in Poland pull down a statue of a prominent deceased priest, Father Henryk Jankowski, who allegedly abused minors sexually, in Gdansk, Poland, Feb. 21, 2019. The Gdansk district court on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, acquitted three men who in 2019 toppled a statue of a late priest suspected of sexually abusing minors, a symbolically dramatic moment in the traditionally Catholic country's reckoning with clerical abuse. (AP Photo/Bartek Sabela/Gazeta Wyborcza)