St. John Paul II

[FaithT]

Is it true that Pope JP II knew about the sexual abuse cases and covered it up? If so, how did he get to be a Saint?

 

[RileyG]

This explains it from a Catholic perspective:

He Knew of Priestly Sexual Abuse and Yet Now He's a Saint

First of all, we don’t know when John Paul II became fully aware of the extent of the problem of priests committing sexual abuse. Keep in mind that it is...

www.catholic.com

 

[FaithT]

This explains it from a Catholic perspective:

He Knew of Priestly Sexual Abuse and Yet Now He's a Saint

First of all, we don’t know when John Paul II became fully aware of the extent of the problem of priests committing sexual abuse. Keep in mind that it is...

www.catholic.com

Thanks

 

[chevyontheriver]

Is it true that Pope JP II knew about the sexual abuse cases and covered it up? If so, how did he get to be a Saint?

Here is my understanding. The Polish Communists used to claim priests were involved in sexual abuse. For the most part it was probably an empty claim to discredit priests. As bishop and archbishop in Poland I suspect he heard many such attempts to discredit priests and he dismissed them. He was most likely accurate in dismissing the Polish Communist claims. He was also under the opinion that no priest would ever do such a thing, that it just wasn't possible. I think what then happened while he was pope was to dismiss such claims, again, as impossible and as attempts by nasty people to discredit good priests. I don't think for a moment he covered for priests he knew or thought were guilty. He is appropriately a saint, but maybe a too gullible one.

Pope Benedict knew more of what was actually going on. He called it 'filth' and he tried to deal with it. It was too much for him and he retired defeated. Pope Francis was supposed to clean it up but that hasn't happened. Rupnik is still influential, McCarrick was rehabilitated before finally being demoted, and some South Americans who should have been sent to monasteries in Antarctica are still active. Pope John Paul II was a saint. Pope Benedict was a brilliant man defeated by the filth. I wish I though he could be a saint and a doctor of the Church but probably not. Pope Francis seems to have done so little. On can hope his successor has the strength and the willingness to really clean house.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

It is my understanding that while Pope John Paul was sick, Cardinal Sodano kept Pope John Paul II in the dark about sexual abuses.

Specifically, Father Marcial Maciel, of the Legions of Christ, whom priest wrote to the Vatican about sexual abuses by Fr Marciel.
However, they never got answered. It is believed that Cardinal Sodano got the letters but never forwarded them nor spoke to
Pope John Paul II about them. Its speculated that it was because Fr Marciel had given the Vatican $250,000 dollars per year
and Cardinal Sodano didn't want to interrupt that.

There are other issues with Cardinal Sodano, but I won't get into them here.

 

[RileyG]

Here is my understanding. The Polish Communists used to claim priests were involved in sexual abuse. For the most part it was probably an empty claim to discredit priests. As bishop and archbishop in Poland I suspect he heard many such attempts to discredit priests and he dismissed them. He was most likely accurate in dismissing the Polish Communist claims. He was also under the opinion that no priest would ever do such a thing, that it just wasn't possible. I think what then happened while he was pope was to dismiss such claims, again, as impossible and as attempts by nasty people to discredit good priests. I don't think for a moment he covered for priests he knew or thought were guilty. He is appropriately a saint, but maybe a too gullible one.

Pope Benedict knew more of what was actually going on. He called it 'filth' and he tried to deal with it. It was too much for him and he retired defeated. Pope Francis was supposed to clean it up but that hasn't happened. Rupnik is still influential, McCarrick was rehabilitated before finally being demoted, and some South Americans who should have been sent to monasteries in Antarctica are still active. Pope John Paul II was a saint. Pope Benedict was a brilliant man defeated by the filth. I wish I thought he could be a saint and a doctor of the Church but probably not. Pope Francis seems to have done so little. On can hope his successor has the strength and the willingness to really clean house.

I do believe Pope Benedict was a saintly man and will one day be canonized, but it might be a few decades yet. IIRC, he defrocked over 400+ priests who were guilty of sexual abuse.

 

[RileyG]

It is my understanding that while Pope John Paul was sick, Cardinal Sodano kept Pope John Paul II in the dark about sexual abuses.

Specifically, Father Marcial Maciel, of the Legions of Christ, whom priest wrote to the Vatican about sexual abuses by Fr Marciel.
However, they never got answered. It is believed that Cardinal Sodano got the letters but never forwarded them nor spoke to
Pope John Paul II about them. Its speculated that it was because Fr Marciel had given the Vatican $250,000 dollars per year
and Cardinal Sodano didn't want to interrupt that.

There are other issues with Cardinal Sodano, but I won't get into them here.

Fr Maciel was a pervert indeed! Yikes!

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Fr Maciel was a pervert indeed! Yikes

He kept Pope John Paul II in the dark as he was sick and dying.

There's more about Cardinal Sodano that I won't get into here.

 

[chevyontheriver]

I do believe Pope Benedict was a saintly man and will one day be canonized, but it might be a few decades yet. IIRC, he defrocked over 400+ priests who were guilty of sexual abuse.

There was SO MUCH that was good about him. In the end though he resigned and we ended up with pope Francis. I don't know how history will evaluate that.

 

[RileyG]

There was SO MUCH that was good about him. In the end though he resigned and we ended up with pope Francis. I don't know how history will evaluate that.

I think the lavender mafia forced him to resign, but that might be considered a conspiracy theory

 

[chevyontheriver]

I think the lavender mafia forced him to resign, but that might be considered a conspiracy theory

I think something similar. It was the Lavender Mafia that made him feel powerless to resist them. I suspect he thought a younger and stronger pope could resist it all better. But then we got pope Francis.

 

[RileyG]

I think something similar. It was the Lavender Mafia that made him feel powerless to resist them. I suspect he thought a younger and stronger pope could resist it all better. But then we got pope Francis.

It’s all in God’s hands. Praying for a new leader that will help clean up the mess after Pope Francis eventually passes.

 

[chevyontheriver]

It’s all in God’s hands. Praying for a new leader that will help clean up the mess after Pope Francis eventually passes.

Or maybe God shows his glory while the Church is all but defeated. I donno. It is in God's hands. It's like pope John XXIII said, "Lord, it's your Chruch. I'm going to bed."

 

[RileyG]

Or maybe God shows his glory while the Church is all but defeated. I donno. It is in God's hands. It's like pope John XXIII said, "Lord, it's your Chruch. I'm going to bed."

Amen. My daily prayer as well!