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-News for Wed 27 March and 28 March 2002
Polish Archbishop Resigns in Sex Abuse Scandal VOA News 28 Mar 2002 16:37 UTC  
Archbishop Juliusz Paetz told worshippers at a Holy Thursday Mass he is stepping down as head of the Archdiocese of Poznan in western Poland to preserve church unity and stability. Archbishop Paetz has vigorously denied the accusations first published last month in a leading Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita. He insists that critics abused his kindness and spontaneity and twisted and misinterpreted his words, gestures and actions. The scandal has shocked many in Poland, where about 90 percent of the population is Roman Catholic. The archbishop is the highest-ranking church official to resign in response to sexual misconduct charges since Austrian Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer stepped down in 1998 after charges that he had molested young boys. Archbishop
Paetz is a former close associate of Pope John Paul II. A high-ranking Vatican
official since 1967, the archbishop helped arrange many of the early foreign
trips Pope John Paul made after assuming the papacy. The pontiff elevated him
to bishop in 1982 and sent him back to Poland. Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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