A Polish Catholic archbishop sanctioned by the Vatican has defended his election as a village mayor.
Archbishop Sławoj Leszek Głódź told Radio Zet on June 29 that his role as mayor of Piaski, in northeastern Poland, did not conflict with canon law.
Canon 285 of the Code of Canon Law says that “clerics are forbidden to assume public offices which entail a participation in the exercise of civil power.”
But Głódź, who holds a doctorate in Eastern Catholic canon law, insisted that the canon did not apply to his new role.
“This is not a government function,” he said.
Głódź served as archbishop of Gdańsk from 2008 to Aug 13, 2020, when the pope accepted his resignation on his 75th birthday.
The apostolic nunciature in Poland announced on March 29 that the Vatican had sanctioned Głódź after a probe under the norms of Pope Francis’ 2019 motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi.
The nunciature said that the Vatican had ordered Głódź to live outside of Gdańsk archdiocese and forbidden him to take part in public religious celebrations or meetings in the archdiocese.
It also instructed him to make a donation from his personal funds to the St Joseph Foundation, established by the Polish bishops in October 2019 to support abuse victims and promote safeguarding.
The 75-year-old archbishop was elected on June 16 as mayor of Piaski, which is part of Bobrówka, the village where Głódź was born in 1945. Read More
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