Polish bishop convicted for failing to report abuse in unprecedented trial

Adam Easton

29 October 2026, The Table

Bishop Andrzej Jeż, 63, has served as led the Diocese of Tarnów since 2012.

Jarosław Kruk / Wikimedia Commons

In 2017, Poland introduced criminal liability and a maximum sentence of three years in prison for anyone who fails to report a crime immediately despite having reliable information about that crime.

A Polish court convicted a bishop of failing to notify law enforcement agencies about the alleged sexual abuse of children by two priests, in the first case of its kind.

On Thursday, the District Court in Tarnów in southern Poland sentenced Bishop Andrzej Jeż of Tarnów to two years’ restriction of liberty by means of a 25 per cent deduction from his salary, to be sent to the Empowering Children Foundation.

Villanova and Notre Dame bring college basketball to Rome. Dinner is on the line.

 

Vatican

Villanova and Notre Dame bring college basketball to Rome. Dinner is on the line.

Justin McLellan  ncr

40 years after Cardinal Ratzinger's 'Halloween Letter,' anti-gay message lingers

Opinion

40 years after Cardinal Ratzinger's 'Halloween Letter,' anti-gay message lingers

Emma Cieslik  ncr

 

 

Dispatches

Archbishop of Detroit calls out voter suppression ahead of midterms: ‘It’s an affront to God’

by Will Martino October 27, 202

Credit: (Daniel Meloy | Detroit Catholic)

Less than two weeks out from the midterm elections, Archbishop Edward Weisenburger of Detroit offered a sobering reminder about the importance of participating in and preserving democracy.

“We’ve seen threats and acts of intimidation at voting locations. We have seen gerrymandering and voter suppression like closing polling locations in communities of color,” Archbishop Weisenburger said, addressing a group of parishioners and visitors at Gesu Catholic Church in Detroit on Oct. 21. “And while some might say, ‘Well, that’s just politics,’ I say, ‘It’s an affront to God.’”

Resisting ICE means showing up for our friends.

 

Don’t Let Them Disappear

Resisting ICE means showing up for our friends.

William Lee

October 28, 2026

Immigration

Donald Trump

P

Please email comments to letters@commonwealmagazine.org.

A clergyman and others pray during a silent vigil protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside the U.S. immigration court in New York City, July 24, 2025 (OSV News photo/Jeenah Moon, Reuters).

As summer twilight flooded the windows of the old convent at my parish in the Bronx, I packed my things, looking forward to heading home for family dinner. Every so often, I like to drop by the parish and help out. Right when I went to leave, a phone buzzed on the table. I recognized the number and picked up, putting my friend on speaker. “Agarraron a mi sobrino,” he said. “El ICE lo llevaron.” The government had kidnapped his nephew.

Amid mixed Pew findings, youngest adults outpace parents' generation in worship attendance

 

October 28, 2026

Amid mixed Pew findings, youngest adults outpace parents' generation in worship attendance

Kathryn Post, Religion News Service  ncr

Voting is a sacred right and duty, no matter where you live

 

October 28, 2026

Voting is a sacred right and duty, no matter where you live

Thomas Reese, Religion News Service  ncr

 

Of Many Things

The bishops who prayed over Trump and apologized—and gave us a lesson in moral responsibility

by Sam Sawyer, S.J. October 27, 2026

Catholic bishops, with Jenny Korn, center left, and Paula White-Cain, center right, pray over President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, in Washington. Credit: Photo via Facebook/Paula White-Cain Illustration: America Media

On Oct. 22, a group of 12 U.S. Catholic bishops who had been meeting with the White House Faith Office were ushered into the Oval Office, where they briefly met and prayed with President Donald J. Trump. Most of what followed—the video being posted by a White House staffer, the storm of online criticism and countercriticism, and a White House spokesperson boasting “there has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans”—was entirely predictable.