WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- An archbishop in Pope John Paul II's homeland announced his resignation Thursday following a Vatican probe and newspaper allegations that he made homosexual advances on young clerics.
Juliusz Paetz, the Archbishop of Poznan, is the highest-ranking prelate to be brought down in a recent spate of sexual misconduct allegations rocking the Roman Catholic Church. He is the highest since the pope forced Austrian Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer to relinquish his duties in 1998 following allegations he molested young boys.
Paetz, an appointee and a longtime acquaintance of John Paul, has repeatedly rejected the allegations. He said Thursday he is innocent but was stepping down for the "good of the church" in the western Polish city.
"The Poznan church needs unity and peace," Paetz said at the end of a Mass in which priests renew their vows. "Bearing in mind the good of the beloved Poznan church, I submitted a request to the Holy father to relieve me of my duties and the Holy Father accepted my request."
Paetz, 67, said he had fallen victim to misinterpretation of his "kindness and spontaneity."
Shortly after his announcement in Poznan Cathedral, the Vatican confirmed, without further comment, that the pope accepted the resignation. It named as his successor Monsignor Stanislaw Gadecki, 52, an auxiliary bishop in the nearby town of Gniezno.
Paetz was already at the Vatican when John Paul was elected pope in 1978. He had ties with the papal entourage under Paul VI, John Paul's predecessor, and was seen at papal events after the Polish pope took over. John Paul made Paetz a bishop in 1982 and sent him back to Poland, then named him archbishop in 1996.
Poland's Roman Catholic Church said in late February that the Vatican was looking into the allegations in Poland's Rzeczpospolita newspaper, which cited unidentified priests as saying that the archbishop had been accused by numerous priests and clerics of sexual harassment.
Vatican sources have said the pope is deeply saddened by the scandal in the Polish church.
The resignation comes a week after John Paul broke his silence on sex abuse cases rocking the Roman Catholic Church, including in the United States. He said the "grave scandal" was casting a "dark shadow of suspicion" over all priests.
John Paul spoke on it again in his homily Thursday, inviting prayers for "our brothers who didn't meet their commitments that came with priestly ordination or who are going through a period of difficulty and crisis."
While thanking God for the gift of the priesthood, John Paul said, "we cannot help but confess our infidelities."
Paetz has said the allegations are part of a campaign to defame him.
"I deny all the information published by the media and I assure you that it is a misinterpretation of my words and behavior," Paetz said in a March 17 letter read in Poznan churches.
"The biggest criminals have a right to anonymity unless a court decides otherwise. I was deprived of that. Mass media have already judged me and sentenced me," he said.
Paetz worked at the Vatican, where he was in the Bishops Synod Secretariat from 1967 to 1976, until John Paul made him a bishop in 1982.
The harassment allegations come at an embarrassing time for the Polish church, with the pontiff due to visit Poland in August -- his first trip back to his homeland since 1999.
Paetz's announcement was met by silence in Poznan cathedral, but applause broke out as another bishop read a letter from the papal nuncio in Poland, Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk, thanking Paetz for his service.
"You did not want your person to be an obstacle in the life of this church," the nuncio's letter said. "I thank you for everything."