A court has overturned a decision by Poland’s media regulator to fine TVN, a large, American-owned private broadcaster, for airing a documentary which alleged that Pope John Paul II showed neglect in dealing with child sex abuse cases in the Catholic church while still a bishop in Poland.
In 2024, the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) fined TVN 550,000 zloty (currently €128,000) for a documentary it had screened the previous year. The decision was issued by the council’s then head, Maciej Świrski, an appointee of the former national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government.
He argued that the programme “was contrary to the law and social good, harming religious feelings, in this particular case of Catholics, and disinforming public opinion”. Offending religious feelings is a crime in Poland, carrying a potential prison sentence of up to two years.
TVN condemned the KRRiT’s decision at the time, saying that it “has no basis in fact, undermines media freedom, and is an attempt to impose censorship…and intimidate our editorial offices”.
Now, the station has announced that the fine has been overturned by the district court in Warsaw, which found that the documentary adhered to journalistic standards and did not constitute an attack on the church. It also deemed that reporting on issues relating to the protection of minors is a cornerstone of democracy.
In response, the KRRiT’s current chairwoman, Agnieszka Glapiak, said that the court’s ruling “is incomprehensible and difficult to accept” and announced the council would appeal against it.
TVN’s documentary claimed that the future Pope John Paul II, while still archbishop of Kraków, knew of sexual abuse by priests subordinate to him but allowed them to continue working in the church and may even have tried to prevent the authorities from learning of their crimes.
The documentary focused on how the pope dealt with three particular cases of priests responsible for abuse, presenting new evidence, including accounts directly from victims and witnesses, files from the communist-era security services, and an interview filmed undercover with a former employee of the Kraków diocese.
The broadcast sparked a debate and some calls to re-evaluate the legacy of John Paul II, who is a national hero in Poland due to both his religious leadership and his role in opposing communism.
But it was also criticised by many conservative figures, including from the PiS government that was then in power. The party’s chairman, Jarosław Kaczyński, described the report as a “scandalous, defamatory, coordinated media witch hunt aiming to destroy the authority of the greatest Pole in our history”.
At the time, the KRRiT revealed that it had received a record number of more than 6,000 complaints about the programme, signed by almost 40,000 Polish citizens.
Its investigation found that TVN’s material “failed to meet the standards of journalistic ethics” and was “biased, prepared with a selective selection of sources, and an ahistorical interpretation of facts and events” with “the entire narrative adjusted to a previously stated thesis”.
The KRRiT criticised the programme-makers for relying on files produced by the communist-era security services – who were involved in repression of the church – and claimed that they had failed to consult other sources.
Under Świrski’s leadership, the KRRiT issued fines against a number of media outlets seen as hostile towards PiS. Last year, he was suspended from his duties after parliament voted to put him on trial for alleged impartial and politically motivated decisions against private broadcasters.
While Catholicism remains the dominant religion in Poland, with around 70% of the population identifying as Catholic, the church has faced criticism in recent years over the revelation of historic child sex abuse by members of the clergy and negligence by the church hierarchy in dealing with the issue.
The Vatican has taken disciplinary action against a number of Polish bishops for their neglect. Last month, for the first time, a Polish bishop went on trial for allegedly failing to properly report allegations of child sex abuse. If found guilty, he could face up to three years in prison.
Wisconsin priest faces new charges for child sex abuse material
(OSV News) — A Wisconsin priest arrested last year for child enticement and attempted sexual assault is facing new charges of possessing child sex abuse material.
Father Andrew J. Showers of the Diocese of Madison was charged March 27 with two felony counts of possession of child pornography. The Waupaca County Jail confirmed to OSV News that Father Showers is not currently incarcerated there. According to court records, Father Showers is scheduled for an initial court appearance on the charges on April 14.
OSV News is awaiting a response from both the Waupaca County district attorney’s office and the priest’s attorney, named in court documents as Christopher Van Wagner, as to whether Father Showers is currently under any restrictions or monitoring pending his upcoming hearing.
Posssession of child pornography charges emerged from investigation after Aug. 2025 arrest
The latest charges emerged from an investigation of the 38-year-old priest’s digital devices, which had been seized during his August 2025 arrest for attempting to meet up with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl named “Abby” — in reality, an undercover sergeant — following sexually explicit message and image exchanges on Reddit and Telegram.
In that incident, Father Showers — who had been director of the diocese’s Office of Worship and parochial vicar for Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Madison — was charged with child enticement, use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, and attempted second degree sexual assault of a child.
The charges, all felonies, carry maximum sentences of anywhere from 20 to 40 years, and fines ranging from $50,000 to $100,000. Court records show that Father Showers entered a plea of “not guilty” in that case on Sept. 30, 2025.
Currently, the 2025 charges and the newest charges are being prosecuted as separate cases, both of which are ongoing, according to court records.
Father Showers free on bond until Sept. 30 scheduled court appearance
The Waupaca County district attorney’s office advised OSV News at the time that a $10,000 bond “was posted right away,” and that Father Showers was free on bond until his initial court appearance Sept. 30.
Bishop Hying of Madison calls the news “deeply troubling”
In a March 27 statement, Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison expressed his “profound sorrow” over the “deeply troubling” news of the additional charges, saying the diocese is “cooperating fully with the civil authorities.”
The bishop affirmed that “the restrictions placed on Fr. Showers last year remain in effect while the legal proceedings are ongoing.”
Bishop Hying stressed his “commitment to transparent and timely communication” about the case, noting that “the diocese is not involved in the proceedings or Fr. Showers’ legal defense.”
Last year, Bishop Hying and the diocese had clarified their responses to 2021 and 2024 complaints about Father Showers, which respectively involved a penitent-clergy exchange with a minor during confession and the alleged groping of an adult woman at a public event.
In an Aug. 27, 2025, message to the faithful, Bishop Hying noted that “a complaint about Fr. Showers was made to the diocese by a parent in December 2021,” in which “the parent expressed concern about pastoral questions which were asked of a male middle-school child during the Sacrament of Confession.”
Bishop Hying said the parent had reported those concerns to the Lodi, Wisconsin, police department, which determined after interviewing the father and child that “the incident did not rise to the level of a criminal act” and did therefore “not refer the matter further or pursue it with the diocese.”
Both the diocese and Bishop Hying had released respective statements on Sept. 5 and 6, 2025, regarding the alleged 2024 incident, which involved a young woman named Patricia Moriarty, who publicly identified herself as the victim during a Sept. 4, 2025, press conference.
Diocese states they did not have knowledge of abuse allegations prior to arrest
Bishop Hying said in his statement at that time that it was “false to state that I or diocesan staff knew of abuse allegations against Fr. Showers and failed to act on information which had been received about him.”
The diocese said in its statement then that while he and the diocese had been in communication, Moriarty’s father John “would not share essential information with diocesan staff designated to handle allegations, including the name of the priest, the location where the alleged incident occurred, and/or which police department was investigating.
“Had we known that Fr. Showers was the priest in question behind the 2024 allegation, immediate action could and would have been taken,” said the diocese at the time.
In his most recent statement, Bishop Hying said that “any allegations of sexual misconduct against minors by priests, deacons, or other church personnel should immediately be brought to the attention of law enforcement officials, as well as the Diocese of Madison’s Sexual Misconduct Question and Reporting Line.”
He concluded by calling for prayer for “all those affected by this painful situation.
“May the Lord bring light, healing, and justice in the midst of this sorrow,” he said.
More details revealed as ex-Lubbock youth pastor sentenced to prison
A 43-year-old former youth pastor who for decades preyed upon the teenage girls he ministered by leveraging his authority as their spiritual advisor was sentenced Monday to 40 years in prison after admitting to violently sexually abusing two Lubbock teenage girls in 2018.
Luke Cunningham, who has been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since his June 20, 2024 arrest, appeared with his attorney Michael King in the 140th District Court and pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault of a child -- bigamy.
The offense is a first-degree felony that carries a punishment of five years to life in prison. However, he accepted a plea offer from the Lubbock County District Attorney's Office for two, concurrent 40-year prison sentences.
Sexual assault is typically a second-degree felony, which carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison. However, the offense is enhanced if the victim of the assault was someone the offender was prohibited from marrying or is a family member.
He was initially charged with 16 counts of the offense. The remaining 14 counts were dismissed as part of his plea agreement. Cunningham entered his plea ahead of an April 20 trial.
Investigating outcries of sexual abuse
Cunningham was initially arrested on separate charges of sexual assault of a child and aggravated sexual assault of a child.
The first charge accuses him of sexually assaulting a teenager about Jan. 8, 2017. The second charge accuses him of raping a different teenager on Oct. 17, 2018 during which he used his hands as deadly weapons. He also faced a second count of indecency with a child by sexual contact for touching the girl's genitals on Jan. 1, 2016.
The Lubbock Police Department had been investigating Cunningham for allegations of sexual misconduct since 2021.
Det. Justin Ryan Wood with the Lubbock Police Department's Crimes Against Children Unit said during an October 2024 bond hearing that the Lubbock investigation into Cunningham began after one of the girls reported the abuse to police after learning he still worked in church ministry.
Wood said the girl's parents learned of the abuse in 2019 when Cunningham worked at Turning Point Community Church as a youth pastor. He said the girl's parents confronted Cunningham and agreed not to report him to the police if he left ministry.
Uncovering years of abuse in ministry
Instead, Cunningham and his family moved to Granbury where he worked as a youth pastor at Lakeside Baptist Church.
However, Cunningham's history of sexual misconduct with teenagers was revealed during a sexual abuse prevention training at the church.
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