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Karol Wojtyla was aware of cases of pedophilia in Poland and helped cover them up before he was elected pope in 1978, according to a book published March 8 by a Dutch reporter in the pontiff’s home country.
Reporter Ekke Overbeek spent more than 10 years digging through archives and interviewing victims and witnesses, material he has just published in the book maximum guiltof more than 500 pages.
“I found evidence that [Juan Pablo II] not only knew (…) of cases of sexual abuse among his priests in the Krakow archdiocese, but also helped cover up those cases,” says Overbeek. Overbeek, who lived in Poland for more than 20 years and had already published in 2013 a book with testimonies from victims of pedophile priests.
access denied
Many of the cited documents come from the files of the ex-communist secret police, which some have criticized. The reporter defends himself by stating that “the archives of the Catholic Church are closed to journalists,” adding that he contrasted his findings with other sources, such as victims and witnesses to the events.
No es none surprise. I posted and book, “The Santa Alliance”where I talked of It is him. It was a policy of protection during he pontificate of Juan Pablo II a los cases of pederasty what tried to hide. Lo place was what and case you can hide it, of the cases can hide them, but 3.000 cases of no can hide them. Y lo what Yeah those was protect a many of los big ones protectors of los abuses sexual. One of los cases further famous was he of the cardinal Law, of Boston.
Eric Frattini, journalist specializing in Vatican issues.
The book came a few days after an investigative documentary was presented on Sunday by Polish television TVN and made by Michal Gutowski, who also reached the same conclusions after meeting with victims, relatives and former employees of the diocese. The journalist also cites documents from the former communist secret police SB and Church archives to which he was able to access, although he points out that the diocese of Krakow denied him access.
“In this country, victims of clergy sexual abuse are afraid,” says Ekke Overbeek. In Poland, admiration for the figure of John Paul II, who died in 2005, is still alive. But his image has deteriorated in recent years, especially among the youngest.
A surprising pardon
Among the cases documented in the book, the journalist details that of a priest accused of orally raping 10-year-old girls. According to Overbeek, the priest, before being brought to justice, confessed in 1970 his acts to then Archbishop Karol Wojtyla, future Pope John Paul II.
“He admitted to Wojtyla everything he did. And that appears in two documents, and even three”, which means that “we know 100% that in 1970, Karol Wojtyla already knew about sexual abuse” in the Polish church, explains the journalist . The religious was later sentenced to prison, but when he was released, Wojtyla allowed him to resume his pastoral activity, “and this is confirmed by a letter written by Archbishop Wojtyla himself,” says Overbeek.
Another of the “most difficult stories to accept,” adds Overbeek, is that of the priest Boleslaw Sadus, a close associate of the future pope. “When Sadus found himself in trouble because he was accused of child abuse, he personally helped him escape from Poland. And it can be said that he organized a new career for him in Austria.” The big question, according to the author of maximum guilt, is whether Wojtyla told the Archbishop of Vienna about Sadus’s criminal past. For Overbeek, “it seems that the answer is no.”
“Our Dear Daddy”
In the past, the Polish Catholic Church has refused to provide documents to the judiciary or an investigative commission tasked with clarifying cases of child abuse. In response to the Wojtyla findings, both the Polish church and conservative authorities reacted angrily.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki defended Wojtyla, “our dear pope”, and accused journalists of going “beyond civilized debate”. In turn, the Archbishop of Lodz, Grzegorz Rys, said that “nobody in the world understands what the Poles are now doing to John Paul II,” referring to the accusations against the late pope.
“For me, that is the most disturbing thing (…) that he would forgive priests who did such things like that,” says Ekke Overbeek. At the same time that he was so generous to the abusers, he “did not pay attention to the victims or their families.” And if for decades John Paul II cultivated an image of an “empathetic, warm and friendly” man, these revelations show the face of a “bureaucrat of the ecclesiastical institution”.