Polish church faces spy scandal

Warsaw, May 19 : A leading Polish Catholic priest has been accused of spying for the communist-era secret services causing an embarrassment for the church just days before a visit by Pope Benedict.

Newspapers yesterday detailed Priest Michal Czajkowski's alleged cooperation with the communist security apparatus over 24 years.

Czajkowski, one of the church's most respected figures and known for his work for Catholic-Jewish reconciliation, has said he never knowingly cooperated with the communists.

''Analysing these files from the historical and technical viewpoint, there is no doubt that Priest Michal Czajkowski was a secret collaborator,'' Jan Zaryn from the National Remembrance Institute (IPN) told reporters.

The IPN keeps the secret service files from the communist era.

Some historians have raised concerns that parts of the files could be fabricated.

For years the church dragged its feet over how to deal with clerics who had cooperated with anti-Catholic communists.

According to the daily Zycie Warszawy which broke the story, Czajkowski spied on dissidents and clerics, including Solidarity icon Father Jerzy Popieluszko, who was murdered by communist agents in 1984.

Czajkowski was not available for comment but Zycie Warszawy quoted him as saying: ''I was never a secret informer. If someone took advantage of my credulity then I apologise.'' The church played a leading role in supporting Poland's often underground pro-democracy movement during the communist era, which ended with a peaceful revolution in 1989, and was persecuted by the authorities for doing so.

According to IPN studies, up to 10 per cent of priests may have knowingly or unknowingly worked with the secret services.

''The church should cleanse itself. These matters should be clarified and finally put to an end,'' said Father Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski, a priest once persecuted by the communists and now a leading spokesman for swift action on the issue.

Isakowicz-Zaleski also told private radio RMF FM that he may reveal more information on communist collaborators among priests but only after Pope Benedict's May 25-28 visit.

Reuters