Catholic Church has suspended priest who has been jailed for gay sex party
A Catholic priest in Poland has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after an investigation into an incident last year that centred on a social event held in the priest’s apartment.
On 30 August 2023, Father Tomasz Zmarzły held a party in his apartment in the southern city of Dabrowa Gornicza. What actually happened at the party seems unclear.
The police got involved when an attendee at the party – reported to be a male sex-worker – apparently collapsed in the apartment. It’s been reported that he collapsed because he overdosed on erectile dysfunction medication, but there doesn’t seem to be any details available on how that could have happened. There’s also reports that there was some kind of mutilation of the lower part of his body – again, the reporting around that seems a bit sensationalist and there’s no specific details of what the injuries actually were. The man in question was treated in hospital and survived.
While the priest denied any wrongdoing, he has been convicted of offences relating to the supply of drugs, and failing to provide assistance to a person in danger of loss of life. There’s also some reporting relating to sexual offences, but it’s not specified what those sexual offences might have been.
The Catholic Church removed Father Zmarzły from all duties while he was under investigation by the authorities.