Poland’s government is going after Catholic organizations, including in one case where it has locked 28 bank accounts of the Sacred Heart Priests.
“Since November 1, 28 accounts of the Sacred Heart Priests have been blocked, i.e., 28 religious houses and Sacred Heart initiatives, by BNP Paribas bank,” said attorney Krzysztof Wąsowski in an interview with wPolsce24 TV, revealing the actions taken against the congregation to which the recently released Father Michał Olszewski belongs.
Fr. Olszewski’s defense attorney emphasized at the beginning of the interview that the priest’s case is a classic political trial.
“He is the victim of a political campaign, a political attack by the current government. He certainly feels that way. His defense certainly believes that way. And indeed, there is no way to explain the way in which this preparatory procedure is being conducted other than that it is a political trial,” he said.
As to the accounts blocked, “We suspect that this has something to do with his (Father Olszewski’s) bail, where the prosecutor’s office said that it would check the money,” the lawyer said.
He also said he has no idea if the prosecutor’s office has already carried out this verification and maybe does not want to allow the defense to know it. What is noteworthy, however, is that his bail was paid from PEKAO SA bank, not BNP Paribas
Furthermore, Sacred Heart priests lent Father Olszewski the money for his bail, as he does not have that kind of money, and only an individual can pay, Wąsowski explained. “But we really don’t know what BNP Paribas is doing and the Sacred Heart priests didn’t get any information as to why their accounts were blocked. Furthermore, 18 transfers were blocked, including internal transfers, and no one knows why. We are starting an intervention,” he added.
“I hope that the Financial Supervision Commission will take an interest in this. I hope that the Chief Inspectorate of the Financial Inspection will take an interest in this. I hope that the prosecutor’s office will take an interest in this. How can you deprive a religious house in Pacanów of access to an account, for example? What does this have to do with the bail at all?” he asked.
Further expressing outrage that this could happen, the lawyer stated: “This money is used to finance missions, whether in Ukraine or Belarus of the Sacred Heart priests, and it turns out that this money is blocked.”
“How is it possible that a bank blocks accounts of any entity without giving a reason? Let them write why they are blocking, who made such a decision,” he emphasized.
Wąsowski also called out bringing Father Olszewski’s bail payment into this because it has already been accepted. He also reiterated that the Sacred Heart priests collected this money on their own.
“They did not even take it from Rome,” he pointed out.
The Onet.pl portal also recently attacked Fr. Olszewski, accusing him of having met numerous times with the then Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro.
“It’s very mystical, because they wrote that they met 33 times; this is such an interesting number for Catholics,” he noted.
“We don’t know what these meetings were like, what they were about. Father Michał actually publicly stated that he had not set up any meetings with Minister Ziobro before. The talks could have concerned completely different projects, and I really don’t even know what these talks were about. Father Michał doesn’t remember such talks at all,” he said.
Wąsowski also discussed how Fr. Olszewski is doing, saying the whole situation has been hell for him. “He needs time to recover because this has been a form of trauma,” he said.
