Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus (file photo)

The Roman Catholic Church in Poland says it has evidence Warsaw's new archbishop-designate, Stanislaw Wielgus, collaborated with the country's communist-era security police.

In a statement released Friday, a church commission said it had found numerous documents confirming Wielgus consciously and willingly collaborated with the security organizations of communist Poland.

The commission said, however, there was not any clear proof he inflicted harm on anyone.

In response to the allegations, Wielgus acknowledged he had contact with the much-hated communist security police, but said he did no harm in words or deeds.

The allegations have gripped heavily Catholic Poland in recent days. Commentators have called the scandal surrounding the appointment a crisis for the church. An opinion poll released Friday indicates a majority of Poles believe Wielgus should not be appointed to succeed anti-communist Cardinal Jozef Glemp.

The Vatican has not commented on the revelations noted by the church commission.

Wielgus was appointed by German-born Pope Benedict to become the archbishop of Warsaw last month. He is set to be formally installed Sunday.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.