‘I’m devastated’: Polish archbishop asks Vatican to laicize priest accused of murder

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 28, 2025 / 15:50 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Adrian Galbas of Warsaw, Poland, has asked the Vatican to laicize a priest accused of murdering a homeless man. The prelate said he was “devastated” by the news of the murder.

“Due to the gravity of the crime and the great public outrage, the metropolitan of Warsaw, Archbishop Adrian Galbas, immediately requests the Holy See to impose the highest penalty provided for in canon law for a cleric: dismissal from the priesthood,” reads a July 26 statement from the Archdiocese of Warsaw.

The text indicates that the request is based on the provisions of sections 1 and 3 of Canon 1397 of the Code of Canon Law, which stipulate that if a cleric commits homicide or kidnapping, “he must be dismissed from the clerical state.”

According to the news site of the German Bishops’ Conference, the accused priest has already been arrested by Polish police and has confessed to the crime.

After noting that this is “the highest possible sanction in relation to the clerical status,” the Archdiocese of Warsaw stated that the Church will cooperate with the authorities “to clarify all the circumstances of this crime and awaits a just and appropriate punishment imposed by the state court.”

The archdiocese also stated that as of July 25, Father Miroslaw M., the priest accused of murder and identified as such under Polish privacy laws, has been replaced as pastor of the parish in the village of Przypki.

Prosecutor’s office explains events

According to the Associated Press, the prosecutor’s office charged the priest with “murder with particular cruelty” following the death of a 68-year-old homeless man. The priest faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison.

The priest and the victim, Anatol Cz., were in a car the night of Thursday, July 24, when they argued, according to Aneta Góźdź, a spokeswoman for the Radom District Prosecutor’s Office. The argument stemmed from an agreement in which the priest had agreed to provide assistance to the man.

In the midst of the argument, the priest allegedly hit the victim in the head with an axe and then set him on fire. “The autopsy showed that the victim suffered burns covering 80% of his body and head injuries caused by a sharp-edged heavy object,” Góźdź said.

‘The blood of our murdered brother cries out to God’

“Today I have no words of comfort for you, much less an explanation or justification. I am devastated by the news that one of my priests brutally murdered a poor, homeless man. I have no answer to any question that begins with ‘why?’”, the archbishop of Warsaw said in a July 25 statement.

“I ask all the priests of the Archdiocese of Warsaw to begin their personal penance and prayer of atonement today. Next Sunday, let us do this together, after every Mass throughout the archdiocese,” the prelate added.

“The blood of our murdered brother cries out to God. Let us beg God for forgiveness and let us beg for the forgiveness of others. I myself beg for this.”

After requesting prayers for the victim and his loved ones and reiterating that the archdiocese will cooperate with authorities to clarify what happened, the Polish prelate said that as the local archbishop, he feels “morally responsible for everything that happens in this Church — both good and the bad. Including this terrible crime. I apologize.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/265603/i-m-devastated-polish-archbishop-asks-vatican-to-laicize-priest-accused-of-murder