Polish archbishop refers child abuse negligence case to Vatican

FILE PHOTO: Archbishop Wojciech Polak speaks with media representatives after extraordinary sitting of Polish bishops, at the Polish Episcopate headquarters in Warsaw, Poland May 22, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Slawomir Kaminski/via REUTERS

WARSAW (Reuters) - The Polish Catholic Church's most senior archbishop notified the Vatican on Saturday of a Polish bishop accused of shielding priests known to have sexually abused children.

The referral, unprecedented in the deeply religious country, will test procedures introduced by the Vatican last year to hold to account bishops accused of turning a blind eye to child sex abuse. The Vatican is now expected to assign an investigator to the case.