The Pope has accepted the resignation of a Polish bishop, whose diocese has been plagued by allegations of a sex party with a male prostitute hosted in a priest's residence. The bishop tendered his resignation after a months-long investigation into the incident.
According to The New York Times, Grzegorz Kaszak, the bishop of Sosnowiec in southwestern Poland, announced his departure after one of his priests was placed under criminal investigation in connection with reports last month that he had organised a sex party during which a male prostitute lost consciousness from an overdose of erectile dysfunction pills. The priest who organised the gathering in his church apartment was identified by the diocese only as Father Tomasz Z.
According to the News Agency Reuters, one of the partygoers called an ambulance, but when paramedics arrived, they were refused entry and were only able to attend to the man after police were called.
Since the incident, Kaszak has asked the faithful to pray for the priests involved, as well as for other people who had done nothing wrong but had been affected by their behaviour, according to Gazeta Wyborcza daily and other media.
Tomasz Z was eventually dismissed, according to the state-run news agency PAP. The diocese said his behaviour was "a cause of great scandal for the faithful and justified indignation of public opinion", PAP reported.
In a statement posted on the diocesan website, Kaszak thanked the faithful for their support of the church. "I will always remember you in my prayers," he said.
