Polish church rocked by second resignation

A SECOND prominent Catholic clergyman quit his post yesterday amid allegations he collaborated with Poland’s Communist-era secret police, a day after Warsaw’s new archbishop resigned after admitting he had cooperated with the despised agency.

The Rev Janusz Bielanski resigned as rector, or head priest, of Krakow’s prestigious Wawel Cathedral, the burial site of Polish kings and queens.

Bielanski has submitted his resignation to Krakow’s archbishop, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, “in connection with repeated allegations about his cooperation with the secret services” of the Communist era, said Robert Necek, a spokesman for Cardinal Dziwisz.

Cardinal Dziwisz, the longtime secretary of the late Pope John Paul II, “accepted the resignation”, Mr Necek added.

The announcement of Bielanski’s resignation comes a day after Stanislaw Wielgus, archbishop of Warsaw only since Friday, stepped aside in a dramatic announcement made during what was supposed to have been his installation Mass. The revelations about him have rattled Poland and revealed deep divisions within the church.

Poland’s top bishop, Cardinal Jozef Glemp, came under criticism for defending Wielgus — a stance that put him at odds with the Vatican and many Polish faithful.