Warsaw, Poland - Poland's Roman Catholic Church is examining archives following allegations that Warsaw's new archbishop collaborated with the communist-era secret police for over 20 years, a spokesman said Thursday.
Since Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus was appointed by the Vatican to head Warsaw's church, three Polish news organizations have published reports alleging he informed on other priests in the 1970s and 1980s in exchange for favors.
Wielgus, who has denied collaborating with the secret police, is to be installed as archbishop on Sunday.
Church spokesman Jozef Kloch said a three-man church commission had poured through files in recent days and had presented Wielgus on Thursday with a summary of what it found in 68 pages of secret police files on him, Kloch told reporters in Warsaw.
"We've given the report to Archbishop Wielgus so he can have the possibility to take a stance on it," Kloch said.
Kloch refused to divulge details about what the files contain, but he said that the commission would probably prepare a report on the matter.
Wielgus denied collaborating with the secret police after the allegations first surfaced Dec. 20 in the Polish weekly "Gazeta Polska."
In the past two days, two more publications, the weekly Wprost and daily Rzeczpospolita, have followed with similar claims. None of the three media outlets provided immediate documentation to support their allegations.
Wielgus, formerly Bishop of Plock, was named by the Vatican on Dec. 6 to replace Cardinal Jozef Glemp, who stepped down after more than 25 years as archbishop of Warsaw.