The president of the Polish Bishops’ conference said that in meetings with a Vatican official, several church leaders criticized the Vatican’s handling of sex abuse cases, particularly “dispro-portionate punishments” inflicted on bishops accused of cover-ups in comparison with convicted abusers.
Archbishop Stanislaw Gade-cki, conference president, told Poland’s Catholic Information Agency, KAI, that Polish bishops met with Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, at the Vatican October 12. He said the bishops were trying to be faithful to Pope Francis’ May 2019 motu proprio, “Vos Estis Lux Mundi,” revising and clarifying norms and pro-cedures for holding bishops and religious superiors accountable for protecting abusers.
“Our task is to work with the Holy Father in clearing up our church’s current situation, which has undermined trust among certain people,”  Gadecki told KAI after the meeting with Ouellet. The meeting was part of the bishops’ “ad limina” visit to meet with Vatican officials every five years.
“But critical remarks have been made about the Holy See’s treatment of bishops who’ve had punishments imposed for short-comings, transgressions or acts of forgetfulness in dealing with clergy accused of paedophilia. Some (Polish bishops) highlight-ed the disproportionate, lasting penalties imposed on bishops after initial investigations, when paedophile criminals can leave prison after five years and begin a new life with a clean sheet.”