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For the first time ever, a civil court in France has suspended a priest from his ministry. The former priest was found guilty of embezzlement.
He stole about €400,000 of assets belonging to two elderly sisters.
Father Ryszard Pszczolkowski was sentenced last week to three years in prison.
This penalty “constitutes the legal maximum” incurred in such a case, the lawyer for one of the sisters said.
Pszczolkowski, who was incardinated in the Archdiocese of Strasbourg, was also sentenced to five years’ suspension from administering his priestly duties.
Father Bernard Xibaut, the archdiocesan chancellor, said he was “a little surprised” at the sentence.
“This priest had already been suspended “a divinis”, forbidding him from celebrating Mass or administering the sacraments in 2016 by the now retired Archbishop Jean-Pierre Grallet.”
Xibaut said Pszczolkowski’s suspension by the Archbishop was “a precautionary measure, when we [the archdiocese] learned of his detention.
“We had also reported his case to Rome, and will now transmit the civil judgment to the Vatican, requesting that it be removed from the clerical state.
“But this is the first time we have seen a civil judgment prohibiting someone from administering his priestly duties as such — and not just this or that aspect of the priesthood such as contact with young people for example.”
During Pszczolkowski’s civil hearing, psychologist experts painted a portrait of him as a “perverse” man, endowed with a “strong personality” who “imposes himself” on others.
The lawyer for one of the sisters, Thierry Moser, said two “very pious” sisters” fell under Pszczolkowski’s influence.
He said they were fascinated by and admired Pszczolkowski. He in turn “pressured them” by “acts of physical, psychological and moral manipulation”, using and abusing his priestly status, Moser said.
Pszczolkowski had managed to obtain a power of attorney over the sisters’ bank accounts and to be named as a universal legatee, collecting over the years approximately €400,000 worth of assets.
As the court has not issued a warrant for his arrest, Pszczolkowski currently resides in a religious house in Bas-Rhin.
Source
- La Croix
- Image: La Croix
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