Vatican reverses Kraków archbishop's 2023 removal of priest Krzysztof Wilk, reinstated from 18 October
Fr. Dr Krzysztof Wilk, removed in December 2023 by then-archbishop Marek Jędraszewski, will return as parish priest of Kraków-Nowy Prokocim from 18 October 2026. The Kraków curia announced the decision at Sunday Mass on 11 October 2026.
Vatican withdraws the 2023 removal
On Sunday, 11 October 2026, the Kraków Metropolitan Curia's communiqué was read to parishioners of the Divine Mercy parish in Kraków-Nowy Prokocim during Mass. Fr. Dr Krzysztof Wilk will be restored as parish priest from 18 October 2026. The decision follows a ruling of the Dicastery for the Clergy, a Roman Curia body that handles matters concerning priests, which withdrew its earlier decree removing him from the post. The curia's chancellor, Fr. Dr hab. Jan Dohnalik, explained the sequence in the communiqué.
The Dicastery took into account the reasons presented by Fr. Wilk in judicial proceedings before the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. The Apostolic Signatura, as the highest church court, then approved the Dicastery's decision.
Removal in December 2023
Fr. Wilk had led the parish since 2021, according to Gazeta Krakowska and naTemat (June 2021 per naTemat). In December 2023 Marek Jędraszewski, then metropolitan of Kraków, removed him by decree and ordered him to vacate the parish house immediately and hand over all parish property to whoever the bishop would appoint. The decree gave no public reasons. The letter also asked Wilk to tell the curia by 9 December 2023 whether he was ready to take on other tasks in the archdiocese, but he appealed the decision to the Holy See instead. At the time, Fr. Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski wrote on social media that Wilk had no moral or financial charges against him. Wilk had been deputy director of Caritas and director of a team of Catholic schools named after the Holy Family of Nazareth.
- Wilk becomes parish priest of the Nowy Prokocim parish
- Archbishop Jędraszewski removes Wilk by decree, without public reasons
- Deadline in the letter for Wilk to say whether he would take other archdiocesan tasks
- Curia communiqué read at Sunday Mass announcing the restoration
- Wilk restored as parish priest
Court proceedings and new leadership
The dispute was decided before the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the church's highest court, which approved the Dicastery's decision. Jędraszewski retired in 2025, and Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś is now metropolitan of Kraków. In a message written on Ryś's behalf, the chancellor thanked Fr. Dr Paweł Głowacz for serving as parish administrator and thanked the parish's clergy and faithful for their patience while the case was pending. Wilk reacted to the Vatican decision in comments to Onet.
Today I am blessed, that is happy, that the truth has prevailed.
Wilk said he would tell parishioners more about the case in the week of 19 October 2026. The curia asked the faithful to welcome him back as parish priest.
A similar earlier case
Polsat News reported that the removal of Wilk was not the only such decision by the archbishop. In 2024 Jędraszewski issued a decree removing Fr. Dariusz Raś from his post as parish priest of St Mary's parish in Kraków, citing irregularities in the management of the parish and its property. The Vatican temporarily suspended that decree while it analysed the case. Polsat News linked the two decisions as part of a pattern in the archdiocese's handling of parish leadership.
What happens next
Wilk's restoration takes effect on Sunday, 18 October 2026. Until then Fr. Dr Paweł Głowacz remains administrator of the parish. The communiqué described the decision as the result of the Holy See's ruling, and the curia's request that parishioners give Wilk a welcoming reception was included in the same message.
