Cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz died before noon at the age of 97, the Polish Episcopal Conference announced on social media on Monday.
On November 6, the Apostolic Nunciature in Poland announced that the cardinal had been banned from participating in any celebrations or public meetings and from using episcopal insignia. He was also deprived of the right to a funeral service and burial in the cathedral.
A statement published on the Apostolic Nunciature’s website said that “as a result of the investigation into the accusations made against Cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz and after analyzing other allegations concerning the cardinal, the Holy See decided to prohibit him from participating in any celebrations or public meetings and from using episcopal insignia.”
Rafał Kowalski, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Wrocław, did not answer our question about what exactly Henryk Gulbinowicz had been punished for.
In recent years, Father Gulbinowicz was publicly accused of sexual molestation, covering up priests’ child abuse, and cooperating with the Security Service.
Did John Paul II know about priests’ child abuse?
In light of recent reports concerning high-ranking officials of the Catholic Church covering up child abuse, the question arises whether Pope John Paul II knew about the crimes and did nothing about them. It is a fact that in 1983 John Paul II softened the penalties for priests who molested children. A recently published Vatican report concerning the American cardinal Theodore McCarrick, in turn, indicates that John Paul II may have known about the hierarch’s sexual abuse of minors and nevertheless promoted him.
Watch a short piece about John Paul II and child abuse.