Key points
- The District Court in Tarnów convicted Bishop Andrzej Jeż on Thursday 29 October 2026 of failing to notify law enforcement about alleged sexual abuse of children under 15 by two priests in his diocese — the first bishop tried in Poland on such charges, Reuters and The Tablet reported.
- The court imposed two years' restriction of liberty, enforced through a 25% deduction from his salary to be sent to the Empowering Children Foundation, The Tablet reported; Reuters, citing the PAP news agency, reported the salary-deduction sentence and that the verdict is not final.
- Jeż, 63, who has led the Diocese of Tarnów since 2012, pleaded not guilty, and the diocese's curia said it would appeal, The Tablet reported.
- Prosecutors had asked for 10 months in prison suspended for three years; the case turns on a 2017 law that made it a crime, punishable by up to three years in prison, to fail to report a crime immediately despite having reliable information about it.
A Polish court has convicted a bishop for the first time for failing to tell the authorities about alleged abuse by priests under his authority, in a verdict that tests how far Poland's 2017 reporting law reaches into the Catholic hierarchy. The District Court in Tarnów, in southern Poland, found Bishop Andrzej Jeż guilty on Thursday of failing to notify law enforcement agencies about alleged sexual abuse of children by two priests from his diocese, Reuters reported, in what the agency described as the highest-profile case of its kind involving a Catholic Church leader in Poland. Read more: Comey charged for a third time as prosecutors revive a 2016 leak allegation
The key figures
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sentence | Two years' restriction of liberty | District Court in Tarnów, via Reuters / The Tablet |
| How the sentence is enforced | 25% deduction from salary, to the Empowering Children Foundation | The Tablet |
| Sentence prosecutors sought | 10 months in prison, suspended for three years | The Tablet |
| Maximum under the 2017 law | Three years in prison | The Tablet |
| Bishop's age and tenure | 63; Bishop of Tarnów since 2012 | The Tablet |
| Trust in the Catholic Church, 2025 poll | 35%, down from 58% in 2016 | IBRIS poll, via Reuters |
The two cases behind the conviction
The case concerned two priests, identified under Polish law as Stanisław P. and Fr. Tomasz K., who were accused of sexually abusing children under the age of 15, The Tablet reported. The allegations against them have not themselves been determined in this trial, which concerned only whether the bishop reported them to law enforcement in time. Proceedings against Stanisław P. were discontinued in 2022 because of the statute of limitations, as the alleged crimes took place before 2017, and he has since been laicised; the proceedings against Fr. Tomasz K. are pending, The Tablet reported.
Before 2017, reporting a crime in Poland was considered a social duty rather than a legal obligation, The Tablet reported. The 2017 change introduced criminal liability, with a maximum sentence of three years in prison, for anyone who fails to report a crime immediately despite having reliable information about it. The Tablet reported that Bishop Jeż only notified law enforcement agencies of the alleged crimes more than three years after the law took effect — the delay at the heart of the prosecution's case.
The bishop's defence, and the diocese's response
Jeż pleaded not guilty, Reuters reported, citing PAP. In his testimony, he explained the delay in reporting by citing the ambiguity of criminal regulations and the specific circumstances of the individual cases, PAP said, according to Reuters. The Tarnów Diocese Curia said it would appeal, The Tablet reported, quoting its statement: "The judgment is not final and does not definitively determine the criminal liability of Bishop Andrzej Jeż. The defence lawyers will request a written justification of the judgment, and after reviewing its content and detailed analysis, an appeal will be made."
The curia also gave its own account of the timeline, The Tablet reported. It said Jeż first learnt of the allegations against Stanisław P. in 2019, that the diocese began internal Church procedures, and that his delegate informed state law enforcement agencies in August 2020. In the second case, it said Jeż was only notified that Fr. Tomasz K. had allegedly abused a person under 15 towards the end of 2021, and that he notified law enforcement about it in December of that year. The curia also said one of Stanisław P.'s alleged victims had notified a prosecutor's office in Opole about the alleged crimes in 2010, and that some of his alleged crimes took place while he was serving in Ukraine and were reported to the relevant Ukrainian authorities.
Why the verdict matters beyond Tarnów
The case is the latest in a series of clergy abuse scandals that have eroded trust in the Church in one of Europe's most devoutly Catholic nations, Reuters reported. In 2024, a bishop and an archbishop resigned over negligence in handling sexual abuse cases, Reuters reported. A 2025 poll by Polish pollster IBRiS showed that the percentage of Poles who say they trust the Catholic Church had fallen to 35%, from 58% in 2016, Reuters reported. While many Poles still regard the Catholic faith as a core part of their national identity, Reuters reported, cases of sexual abuse involving priests mean increasing numbers say they have lost confidence in the Church.
That context is why the verdict, even though it is not final, carries weight beyond one diocese. Until now, no bishop in Poland had been tried for failing to report information about priests sexually abusing children, The Tablet reported. If the conviction survives appeal, it would establish that senior Church leaders can face criminal punishment — not just Church discipline — for delays in passing allegations to the state. If it does not, the appeal will itself become the test of how the 2017 law is read.
What happens next
The next step is procedural: the defence will request the court's written justification of the judgment, and the diocese says an appeal will follow once that justification has been reviewed, The Tablet reported. Until an appeal is decided, the conviction does not definitively determine Jeż's criminal liability, in the curia's words. The separate proceedings against Fr. Tomasz K. also remain pending. Europe Unfolded will report the appeal and any further proceedings when they are confirmed.
Updates & corrections
Published 29 October 2026.
No updates or corrections have been made to this article since publication.
Sources
- Reuters, "Polish bishop convicted of failing to report clergy abuse of minors", 29 October 2026, on the Tarnów court's conviction, the two-year restriction-of-liberty sentence via salary deductions as reported by PAP, the verdict not being final, Jeż's not-guilty plea and his explanation of the delay, the 2024 resignations, and the IBRiS trust figures: reuters.com
- The Tablet, "Polish bishop convicted for failing to report abuse in unprecedented trial", 29 October 2026, on the 25% salary deduction to the Empowering Children Foundation, the diocese's appeal, the prosecutors' request for 10 months suspended for three years, the 2017 law and its three-year maximum, the two priests' cases, Jeż's age and tenure since 2012, and the curia's statement and timeline: thetablet.co.uk
- UA.News, "Polish court sentences Bishop Jeż to two years of restricted liberty", 29 October 2026, corroborating the cumulative two-year sentence, the 25% monthly deduction, and the prosecutors' suspended-sentence request: ua.news