The figure of the former pope John Paul II was the object of severe questioning since a report came to light in which he was accused of having cover up abuses committed by priests pedophiles. Before becoming Supreme Pontiff, the late Polish pope would have been aware of the controversial cases, which led to his decision to transfer the priests to other dioceses, according to the investigation, to avoid a scandal.
A recent investigation led by Michal Gutowski set off alarm bells after stating that Karol Wojtyla, before taking office as the highest ecclesiastical authority, He was aware of cases carried out by “pedophile priests” belonging to the Catholic Church. At the time, he was serving as a cardinal in Krakow, according to the controversial report.
The investigator pointed out that to avoid scandals, the former pope would have decided transfer the priests in question to other diocesessome of them “as far away as Austria”, as indicated in the newspaper Mail Online.
John Paul II’s papacy lasted 27 years, from 1978 until his death in 2005. Among the most controversial events, the investigation highlighted that Wojtyla wrote a letter of recommendation for a priest accused of abuse to Vienna Cardinal Franz Koenigand glossed over the serious allegations, according to Gutowski.
The author of the report maintains that spoke with victims of pedophile priestsas well as their families and former employees of the church’s diocese.
He also accessed ecclesiastical documents and material from the secret police and intelligence service operating in the People’s Republic of Poland, better known by its initials ‘SB’.
On the other hand, Gutowski referred to the difficulties he faced during the investigation, given that the Krakow diocese would have denied him access to his own documentary archives.
A first-person testimony ‘compromises’ John Paul II in an alleged cover-up
On condition of anonymity, one of Michal Gutowski’s sources claimed that he had personally informed Wojtyla about acts of pedophilia attributed to a priest in 1973.
“Wojtyla first wanted to make sure it wasn’t a hoax”said said source.
“He asked that it not be reported anywhere, he said he would take care of it,” added the anonymous voice that provided clues to Gutowski.
Francis on abuses in the Church: “It’s a monstrosity, diabolical, Zero Tolerance!”
Thereafter, the cardinal ordered the episode to be kept “in strict secrecy”.
Thomas Doyle, a former American Catholic priest and author of one of the first reports on abuses committed by Catholic clergy in the United States, warned that Gutowski’s research was “groundbreaking.”
According to Doyle, it was demonstrated that John Paul II knew that the problem existed even before he became Pope.
Benedict XVI also filed complaints for cover-up
It is not the first time that the Vatican has faced complaints of this nature. Indeed, the deceased Ratzinger dealt with allegations of cover-up of sexual abuse of minors. Despite the fact that this situation became known after his papacy, he accused himself of Benedict XVI of having full knowledge of violations that occurred before arriving at the Vatican.
Everything came to light after a report from the legal team was published Westpfahl Spilker Wastl on the cases of sexual abuse of minors that involved the German religious and that collects almost 500 violations against minors.
CA/ED
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