Warsaw, Poland - The newly-appointed archbishop of Warsaw resigned on Sunday after admitting he spied for Poland's former communist regime, in a major embarrassment for the Vatican and the powerful Polish Catholic Church.
Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus read out his resignation, which came at the request of Pope Benedict who appointed him just a month ago, at a special mass in Warsaw Cathedral replacing a formal ceremony that was to have sworn him in.
"In accordance with (Canon law) I submit to your Holiness my resignation as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Warsaw," said Wielgus, who on Friday backed down from repeated denials that he collaborated with the secret services during the communist era.
Hundreds of faithful gathered in the rain in front of the cathedral cheered in support of Wielgus, yelling "Stay with us," a chant used by crowds during visits to his homeland by the late Polish-born Pope John Paul.
The Vatican's diplomatic mission in Poland said in a statement that Wielgus was asked to resign.
A spokesman for the Polish episcopate said the legal basis for the resignation was a part of church law requiring a bishop to resign if he is "unable to properly exercise his office (and therefore) is strongly requested to submit his resignation."
Last week a special Polish Church commission found that Wielgus had collaborated with communist-era secret police.
Wielgus, 67, was named by the Pope on December 6 to succeed the retiring Cardinal Jozef Glemp in one of the most influential positions in the Polish church hierarchy. The Vatican's mission said Glemp, who stays the primate of the overwhelmingly Catholic country, would temporarily stand in as Warsaw archbishop.
Glemp told the mass Wielgus should not be judged too harshly as many Poles had been forced to compromise during the communist era, which began after World War Two and ended in 1989.
"Judgment was passed on Monsignor Wielgus on the basis of bits of paper, of copies of copies," Glemp said, his phrases punctuated by applause from parishioners and clergy.
As Glemp, who is Primate of Poland, spoke, the edges of Wielgus's mouth quivered and he shut his eyes tightly, as if to hold back tears.
"He was judged and found guilty without lawyers or witnesses. This was not a just judgement," Glemp said.
The Vatican had announced hours before what was to have been the new archbishop's formal investiture ceremony Sunday that he had resigned.
Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation and asked Glemp to retain the post of archbishop of Warsaw until a permanent replacement can be found, said the Vatican's emissary in Warsaw, Jozef Kowalczyk.
"HARASSMENT, SHOUTS AND THREATS"
Poland is still struggling to come to terms with its communist past.
The Church was a key support for the pro-democracy Solidarity movement during the 1980s but historians say as much as 10 percent of the clergy could have cooperated with the Soviet-backed regime and its feared secret police.
"It was a huge organization that penetrated all layers of Polish society and in particular the clergy, which was the most independent and patriotic group," he said to cheers from the congregation. "Wielgus was forced by harassment, shouts and threats to become a collaborator."
The Vatican said the episode was a "moment of great suffering for the Church" but that Wielgus was not the first and probably not the last Polish cleric to be attacked on the basis of documents from the communist era.
The scandal has highlighted a deep crisis for the Polish church and its struggle to define its role after the death of its moral guide, Pope John Paul.
"This is the biggest crisis to affect the Polish Church for a generation," said Jonathan Luxmoore, an expert on Catholic matters. "The Pope could (also) be damaged by this."
Soon after his appointment, Polish media reported that Wielgus had informed on fellow clerics for about 20 years from the late 1960s. In Friday's statement, Wielgus said he "did not report on anyone nor deliberately try to hurt anyone."
Wielgus's admission on Friday that he had damaged the Church when he "denied the facts of this cooperation" with the secret services opened the door for the Pope to remove him from office but he did not resign until the day of the ceremony.
Opinion polls before the resignation showed a majority of Poles saying that Wielgus should quit. But many older Catholics who lived through Communism are sympathetic to him.
"There was huge pressure from the regime. He went through a very tough time. We should have great understanding," said 79-year-old Maria Sokolowska.