Pope names administrator for Polish diocese hit by abuse allegations

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis appointed an administrator on Thursday to run the Polish diocese of Kalisz, whose bishop has been accused of shielding priests known to have sexually abused children, foreign media reported.

The move came little more than a month after Church leaders in Poland announced that they were referring Bishop Edward Janiak to the Vatican for eventual judgement.

The Vatican said the pope had appointed Archbishop Grzegorz Rys of the city of Lodz as apostolic administrator, a temporary post. Janiak will remain bishop of Kalisz while the accusations are investigated.

It was not immediately possible to contact Janiak for comment.The case came to prominence after a film by brothers Tomasz and Marek Sekielski, purported to show how Janiak failed to take action against priests who were known to have abused children.

The Sekielski brothers released another film last year that suggested that known paedophiles were deliberately shifted between parishes. The film has had more than 23 million views on YouTube