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Pedophilia: A Shadow over John Paul II’s Pontificate
Céline Hoyeau, France
Volume 34 Issue 4, 5 & 6 | Posted: July 2, 2020
Introduction
While something of an attempt at white wash, this article, forwarded by Phil Little of Ladysmith, B.C., underlines some of the shadow content of Pope John Paul II’s era. Phil’s analytical comments are included as well.
Introduction
While something of an attempt at white wash, this article, forwarded by Phil Little of Ladysmith, B.C., underlines some of the shadow content of Pope John Paul II’s era. Phil’s analytical comments are included as well.
“Is it not somewhat typical that a critique of the tenure of the Polish Pope would focus on a sexual scandal, but totally avoid a comprehensive study of his deep misogyny, his relationship with Opus Dei, and his betrayal if not outright sabotage of the Latin American church? There was no investigation before “Santo Súbito” orchestrated by Opus Dei and Pope Benedict XVI and with canonization the church may not be able to deal with a true investigation of this CIA agent in the Chair of Peter.”
– Phil Little, Ladysmith
The Church in Rome opened the cause for the beatification of John Paul II just a few weeks after his death. The process was carried out with lightning speed.
Indeed, Karol Wojtyla’s pontificate was in every way out of the ordinary: because of its duration (1978-2005) and the popular devotion it aroused, as well the exceptional stature and strength of the man himself.
The Polish pope was prophetic in many ways and was one of the main contributors to the fall of communism in Europe. He never ceased defending peace and human rights.
He also traveled the world, making 104 foreign journeys that took him to 129 countries. And he was a pioneer in the Church’s effort to reach young people when he instituted World Youth Day.
Yet John Paul’s record has been called into question in light of revelations about sexual abuse in the Church in recent decades.
Some have done that brutally.
“Can one canonize a shepherd who let the wolf devour the children?” ask Christine Pedotti and Anthony Favier.
In a forthcoming book in French they claim the late pope “chose to hide his face and opt for silence” when confronted with accusations against Marcel Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ.
But Bernard Lecomte, author of a biography of the Polish pope, argues that this was a unique case.
“Maciel was a great manipulator and he abused the trust of John Paul II, as he did of John XXIII and Paul VI before him,” the author says.
However, a number of Maciel’s victims claim they warned the pope as early as 1979.
“Their letter arrived at the Secretary of State, but then… when did the pope consult the file?” asks Lecomte.
He argues that Maciel was very financially generous with Cardinal Angelo Sodano (Vatican Secretary of State) and then-Monsignor Stanislaw Dziwisz (John Paul II’s private secretary) who were able to hide the complaints from the pope.
“Overwhelmed”
Other priest-pedophile scandals, however, came to light in the late 1980s.
Clearly, John Paul II underestimated the extent of the phenomenon. And it did not help that both secular and religious institutions generally remained silent on the issue.
This silence was compounded by the culture of secrecy that prevailed in the Catholic Church at that time.
John Paul was certainly the first pope to publicly denounce the “faults of the clergy” in 1993.
But he remained focused on abuse as a sin, not as a crime. He believed bishops should “help” those priests who “have been lost” in order that “they may be reconciled and find peace of conscience”.
The painful reality of sex abuse strikes against the ideal of holiness that John Paul II promoted.
“The pope was somehow overwhelmed by the subject of abuse… He was himself so loyal that he could not conceive of it,” Cardinal Christoph Schönborn said in a recent interview with Der Sonntag.
The late pope’s experience in his native Poland also partly explains his tendency to strongly defend the clergy.
He grew up under the yoke of the Nazis and then the Communists, who did not hesitate to spread false accusations of abuse to trap priests.
“Excessive Trust”
During John Paul’s pontificate, the Vatican accused the media of being too strident on the issue of abuse.
Such was the case with Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër, the man he had appointed archbishop of Vienna in 1986.
The Austrian cardinal was accused of sexual abuse of minors, the pope sent a letter to the Austrian bishops on September 8, 1995 in which he protested against an “attempt of destruction” that amounted to persecution.
He also reiterated his “gratitude” to the cardinal.
Lecomte says this just shows that John Paul was overly idealistic and placed excessive trust in his aides.
“He was already famous in Krakow for not knowing how to appoint people,” says the biographer.
In fact, only a few days after sending the letter of support the pope was forced to accept the resignation of Groër whose guilt would be confirmed in 1998 by his successor in Vienna, Cardinal Schönborn.
In spite of everything, John Paul II did not publicly take back his denial of Groër crimes, nor did he address the victims.
It seems that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was the only one who tried to warn the Polish pope of the clergy sex abuse phenomenon. The Bavarian cardinal saw these cases arrive on his desk in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).
But Lecomte claims Ratzinger was up against others in the Roman Curia, who treated these cases as if they were nothing but “dust under the carpet”.
“He was the one who finally convinced John Paul II to put his fist down and centralize the abuse files at the CDF,” says the writer.
That turning point came in 2001.
The following year, the pope summoned the U.S. cardinals and archbishops to Rome and laid the foundations for “zero tolerance”, affirming that “there is no place in the priesthood for anyone who would harm young people”.
But John Paul’s health worsened and, until his death in 2005, his entourage road-blocked everything.
Céline Hoyeau, France