The Polish prime minister defended this Wednesday the “good name” of the “great compatriot” John Paul II, after allegations that he, before being named Pope, knew of and hid cases of sexual abuse of minors, within the Church Catholic in Poland.
A television program, broadcast on Monday night, the result of two and a half years of investigations, interviews and trips, has the testimony of people close to the Polish Pope, as well as members of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, explained the director of the program. ., Marcin Gutowski.
The report struck a chord with a highly respected figure in the predominantly Catholic country and provoked a mixed reaction, especially as some of the documentation cited came from the archives of the communist-era secret security service, which tried to compromise the church.
The head of the Polish Government, Mateusz Morawiecki, a Catholic, said, in a video statement posted on his social networks, that the evidence revealed against the late pontiff is “very doubtful.”
He also claimed that the issue was raised by circles who want to wage “culture war” against Poles and change their lives.
The documentary looks at the cases of three priests who Karol Wojtila, then Archbishop of Krakow, moved between different locations in the 1970s when he learned of the accusations against him.
Morawiecki, whose right-wing government has close ties to Poland’s Catholic Church, emphasized the late pope’s role in his country’s democratic turnaround in the 1980s, which also inspired other Soviet nations in central and eastern Europe.
“The list of John Paul II’s merits for the world and for Poland is inexhaustible,” Morawiecki said.
The day after the disclosure of the investigation, the office of the Polish Episcopate defended that it is “impossible to clearly determine” the nature of the facts attributed to at least one of the accused priests, since the accusations are made based on documents placed available. by the political police of the Polish communist government at the time.
“A fair assessment of Karol Wojtyla would require further investigation,” according to one statement in the statement.
The content of the investigation revived the controversy surrounding the alleged responsibility of John Paul II in covering up cases of sexual abuse of minors in the Polish Church, and comes at a time when the issue has received international attention, including in Portugal.
Source: TSF
