A church source told The Tablet “urgent internal enquiries” were underway to establish how the interview with Mother Jolanta Olech, secretary general of the Conference of Higher Superiors of Female Religious Orders, was run by the church’s official Catholic Information Agency, KAI. The source, who asked not to be identified, added that Poland’s Catholic bishops had “reacted with outrage” to the 78-year-old Ursuline’s decision to publicise the scandal, and said the nun had been cautioned to avoid further public statements.

In her 14 February interview, Mother Olech said no comprehensive data had been collected on the abuse of nuns in Poland. However, she added that she had been notified of “very painful” cases during her years as Conference president and secretary general, none of which had been made public, and welcomed the Pope’s pledge on 5 February that the Church was now tackling the “scandal” of priests and bishops who molested nuns.