The Polish Catholic Church said today the archbishop of Warsaw, appointed last month by Pope Benedict, had spied for the communist-era secret services.
The Pontiff named Bishop Stanislaw Wielgus on December 6th to succeed anti-communist Cardinal Jozef Glemp in one of the most influential positions in Poland's Church hierarchy.
Soon after, Polish media reported that Dr Wielgus informed on fellow clerics to the communist secret services for around 20 years, starting in the late 1960s. Dr Wielgus has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus
But a special Church commission said in a statement today there was sufficient evidence to confirm he was a willing informer.
"There are plenty of important documents which confirm Wielgus' willingness for ... cooperation," the commission said. "The documents ... show some opinions of intelligence service officials that suggested that the actions of Stanislaw Wielgus could have done harm to people from Church circles."
In a statement, Dr Wielgus said he had talked to the secret police to be allowed to travel outside Poland but had never done anyone any harm.
"I know I should not have had any contact with the communist services," the statement said. "I regret taking these foreign trips, which were the reason for these contacts. I never did any harm with my words or actions."
Dr Wielgus is scheduled to formally become archbishop at a mass attended by Poland's president and other high-ranking government officials in overwhelmingly Catholic Poland on Sunday. He did not say whether he plans to resign, a step widely expected by Church commentators and some Church officials.
An opinion poll released today said a majority of Poles believe he should not be formally appointed.
In the 1980s, the Church supported the pro-democracy Solidarity movement and, along with Polish-born Pope John Paul II, played a crucial role in bringing down communism in 1989.
Church historians, however, say up to ten per cent of the clergy may have cooperated knowingly or unknowingly with the Soviet-controlled communist authorities. The Church has so far refused to make their names public.