The Vatican has accepted the resignation of a Polish bishop amid reports of a gay orgy having taken place in a priest’s apartment in his diocese, Sosnowiec. While no official reason was given as to why Grzegorz Kaszak is stepping down from his position, it is suspected to be linked to the alleged sex party and the subsequent criminal investigation that one of his clergy members faced as a result.

The gay orgy, which reportedly involved a male sex worker, is said to have occurred in Dąbrowa Górnicza at the residence of a priest identified as Tomasz Z. According to Polish media, someone at the gathering collapsed after overdosing on erectile dysfunction pills, and the church official is suspected of “failing to provide assistance to a person whose life is at risk” due to allegedly preventing paramedics from entering the building.

Although prosecutors have not charged the priest for his alleged behaviour at the gay orgy, the diocese has largely corroborated the claims, saying that an outside investigative commission concluded that Tomasz Z committed “a very serious violation of moral norms” and his obligations as a clergyman. He was dismissed from his duties by Kaszak on September 21, and an in-house canonical trial was initiated, the ruling of which could result in defrocking.

In response to the accusations, Tomasz Z has denied that he barred paramedics from attending to the scene and questioned the definition of “orgy”.

“I perceive this as an obvious attack on the church, including the clergy and the faithful, in order to humiliate its position, tasks and mission,” Polish media has quoted him saying.

This, however, is not the first gay scandal to have rocked the diocese while Kaszak has been Bishop. According to The Guardian, in 2010, the then-acting rector of the Sosnowiec seminary got into a “scuffle” at an LGBTQ+ bar but was allowed to stay in the position for more than a year despite the media attention that followed. However, the Holy See eventually intervened and dissolved the seminary entirely, as the PAP news agency reports.

Furthermore, in March 2023, a 26-year-old deacon was found dead with injuries suggesting homicide and local prosecutors suggested he was killed by a 40-year-old priest who then ended his own life.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, October 24, Kaszak revealed that he wrote to the Pope in late September, requesting that he allow him to resign. He thanked the priests and nuns of Sosnowiec and asked everyone to forgive his “human limitations”.

Kaszak was appointed bishop in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI, and retires at 59 years old, several years shy of the usual age of 75.