Bishops elect Prof. Piotr Franaszek to chair abuse commission

Bishops of the Polish Episcopal Conference elected Professor Piotr Franaszek to chair the Commission of Independent Experts to investigate the sexual exploitation of minors in the Catholic Church in Poland. The election took place during the 406th Plenary Assembly of the conference held in Zakopane from October 22 to 24, 2026.

Professor Franaszek is a historian and professor at Jagiellonian University. He previously served as the director of the Jagiellonian University Institute of History from 2002 to 2008 and was a member of the Kolegium Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej from 2016 to 2023. His candidacy was consulted with leaders of various male and female religious orders.

The commission has not yet begun its work. The Polish Episcopal Conference established the commission and its statute in March 2026 and requested that the Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych i Administracji grant it legal personality under state law. The statute must undergo further evaluation by several institutions, including the Ministerstwo Sprawiedliwości, the Państwowa Komisja ds. przeciwdziałania wykorzystywaniu seksualnemu małoletnich poniżej 15. roku życia, Rzecznik Praw Dziecka, Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, and the Naczelny Dyrektor Archiwów Państwowych.