Pope John Paul II covered up child abuse as cardinal in Poland, says report

[sl8]

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230306-pope-john-paul-ii-covered-up-child-abuse-as-cardinal

Pope John Paul II covered up child abuse as cardinal in Poland, says report

Issued on: 06/03/2023 - 01:49

The late Polish pope John Paul II knew about child abuse in Poland's Catholic church years before becoming pontiff and helped cover it up, private broadcaster TVN reported Sunday.

Michal Gutowski, the investigator behind the broadcast, said that Karol Wojtyla, as he then was, knew of cases of paedophile priests within the church while still a cardinal in Krakow.

He transferred the priests to other dioceses -- one as far away as Austria -- to ensure no scandal ensued, he said.

Wojtyla, who was pope for 27 years from 1978 until his death in 2005, wrote a letter of recommendation for a priest accused of abuse to Vienna cardinal Franz Koenig, without mentioning the accusations, says Gutowski.

[...]

[BlueTsunami2018]

1. Par for the course.

It’s such a common practice in the Catholic Church that no one bats an eye. Hell, it’s a common practice in all churches.

[spike jones]

2. Fight the real enemy

[link:https://vimeo.com/181480371|

[Scrivener7]

3. I wonder what this will do to the effort to make him a saint.

[niyad]

7. He was canonized in 2014.

[Scrivener7]

8. Wow. That wooshed right past my notice!

Think they'll demote him? I bet they don't.

[niyad]

9. Don't hold your breath.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

10. Canonization is permanent.

If they have a saint day, they have removed saints from the calendar. But he's a saint forever.

[Ocelot II]

4. SOP. The church has been doing that since forever.

[twodogsbarking]

5. Anyone surprised? Anyone?

[niyad]

6. Colour me sooooooo NOT surprised.