After the publication of the interview, Bishop Mendyk stated that the allegation of harassment contained therein was untrue and announced that he would seek an apology through legal means. The hierarchy sued the publisher of “Newsweek”, Ringier Axel Springer Polska. The case was heard in the civil division of the court in Świdnica.
“I state most definitely that the allegation of harassment contained therein is untrue.”
The spokeswoman for the District Court in Świdnica, Judge Magdalena Mroczkowska, informed PAP on Thursday that the court issued an invalid judgment in this case, ordering the interview to be removed from the website and an apology to be posted there. “The publisher must also pay PLN 50,000 for social purposes,” the judge said.
In an interview published in August 2022 in “Newsweek”, former seminarian Andrzej Pogorzelski said that at the age of eight he was molested by the then priest from Głuszyca, Marek Mendyk (today the bishop of Świdnica).
After this publication, Bishop Mendyk issued a statement. “In view of the interview that appeared in today's issue of the weekly NEWSWEEK, I declare with all certainty that the accusation of harassment contained therein is untrue. I do not agree that lies and slander made against me should also be repeated by other media. I am handing over the entire matter to the appropriate lawyers. , and I demand a public apology from you, who – perhaps under the influence of others – formulated such accusations,” the bishop wrote in a statement published on the website of the Świdnica diocese.
Last year, the Vatican found that there was no evidence that Bishop Marek Mendyk had sexually abused a child, as “Rzeczpospolita” wrote about in early March. The case was discontinued due to “lack of credible and irrefutable evidence”, confirmed by the bishop himself.
author: Piotr Doczekalski
