The Catholic Church in Poland was shaken last week by the news of a gruesome crime involving one of its clergymen. A 60-year-old parish priest confessed to brutally murdering a homeless man, attacking him with an axe and setting the body alight. In response, the Archbishop of Warsaw, Adrian Joseph Galbas, has asked the Vatican to remove the priest from the priesthood.
The request represents the highest canonical penalty and has been directed to Vatican authorities to initiate proceedings under the provisions of Canon 1397, which mandates dismissal from the clerical state for a cleric found guilty of homicide or kidnapping.
