Cardinal Dziwisz, former papal secretary, cleared of negligence on abuse (AP)

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the longtime personal secretary to Pope John Paul II, has been cleared of charges that he was negligent in responding to sex-abuse allegations while serving as Archbishop of Krakow from 2005 to 2016.

A Vatican investigation into complaints found no evidence of wrongdoing, and that investigation is now closed, the apostolic nuncio in Poland has announced.

The investigation involved only the retired cardinal’s leadership of the Polish archdiocese, and not his tenure as papal secretary. Cardinal Dziwisz has been criticized for earlier ties to prelates involved in abuse, including former cardinal Theodore McCarrick and the late Marcial Maciel, the disgraced founder of the Legionaries of Christ.