Priest forces school pupil to "apologise to the Lord" by twisting his arms

In a disturbing video that was sent to our Kontakt 24 platform, a priest teaching religion at a special educational care facility located in the Masovian Voivodeship is seen forcing one of his pupils to apologise. When the student refuses, the priest presses him against te desk and twists his arms.

In order to protect the child's wellbeing, we do not reveal exactly where the incident took place.

In response to our inquiry, Płock Diocese Curia said it had no knowledge about this incident, but issued a short statement the following day.

The curia said that the Bishop of Płock would immediately meet with the priest and the school board, promising that the incident would be thoroughly explained in order to draw adequate consequences from the teacher.

"We apologise for what has happened. Such situation should have never taken place," the curia said in the statement.

The incident at the special educational care facility took place on Friday (December 9). The institution takes care of children with intellectual disabilities, and offers early child development support and therapy for autistic children. The video of the incident was sent to us by the mother of a teenage girl who had recorded it secretly in class.

In the video shot in the class we witness the following situation:

"Apologise," the priest demanded from one of the pupils, at the same time pressing him against the school desk. "I won't apologise," the student replied. "Apologise to the Lord," the priest insisted and began to twist the boy's hands. "Never," replied the teenager, to which the priest said he would take him to the school director.

The incident has been reported to the police and the board of education. "Yesterday (on Monday - edit.) we received the video of the incident," a local police press officer told us, adding that the girl, who shot the video, were questioned.

The officer also informed the priest had not yet been questioned and the prosecutor would decide on the angle of the inquiry.

The regional prosecutor in Przasznysz, Renata Zadrożna, told Polish Press Agency on Tuesday the police materials from the case had not yet arrived there by post.

On Monday we asked the Masovian Board of Education in Warsawa about the case. The spokesman, Andrzej Kulmatycki, said an inspection at the facility would be carried out later this week.

He added that an anonymous information about the incident has been sent to board of education on Monday. "Recently, we haven't been receiving any complaints on the way this facility is functioning," Kulmatycki assured.

The school board has already reacted to the priest's conduct. "By the decision of the director the priest has been suspended in his duties as religion teacher," the director said in an email she sent to us.

She added the police had been notified and refused to provide any further information at that time.

Deputy county mayor Dariusz Wierzbicki told TVN24 his office had received the video of the incident on Monday, and assured they treated the case with utmost seriousness.

He added the county office was waiting for the result of board of education's inquiry and intended to notify teachers' disciplinary body.

Finally, he assured the classes at the school were being carried out as usual.

Poland's Children Ombudsman Mikołaj Pawlak said on Tuesday he would launch an official inquiry into the incident.

"Each year hundreds of teachers face disciplinary action for such things. I'm investigating this case as well and I will demand consequences be drawn. Nobody, regardless of their function, is allowed to use violence against children," Pawlak stressed.