The Polish channel "TVN" sparked a great controversy by broadcasting an investigation that revealed that former Pope John Paul II was aware of cases of sexual abuse against children inside the Polish Church before his coronation as Pope in the Vatican in 1978.
A report published by the French newspaper Le Monde quoted the owner of the TV investigation, Michal Gutowski, as saying that John Paul II, whose name was Karol Joseph Wojtyala when he was a cardinal and bishop of Gracovia in southern Poland, was aware of the "pedophilia" crimes, but he worked to hide them, and transferred those involved from parish to parish to cover up what they were involved in.
Wojtyala was born in Wadowice, Poland, on May 18, 1920, and died on April 2, 2005, at the age of 84.
coverage
The journalist Gutowski talked about the case of a priest who was sent by Wojtyala to Austria with a recommendation to the Cardinal of Vienna, but without revealing the heavy accusations leveled against the Polish priest.
Le Monde explained that, during the preparation of the exciting investigation, Gutovsky listened to the victims, their relatives, and old employees inside the church, as well as the documents of the secret communist police that were in control at the time.
The journalist succeeded in obtaining church documents that reveal some of what happened, while the Polish church refused to provide documents related to the file, whether to the journalist or to the public committee that investigated sexual crimes against children.
The French newspaper reported on the account of one of the witnesses who confirmed that he had conveyed to Cardinal Wojtyala (John Paul II later), in 1973, the case of a priest involved in sexual abuse against children, so he asked him not to publish news about it, assuring him that he would be interested in following up the case himself.
book
Le Monde said that Dutch writer Ike Overbeek will release this week a book that will shed light on several sexual crimes committed against children in churches, and will include Wojtyala's accusations.
John Paul II was chosen Pope of the Catholic Church in 1978 as the first non-Italian person to reach the papal position in 456 years, and he was 58 years old at the time.
He was distinguished by a strong presence and received great attention from the media. He worked on developing the Church's work methods and strengthening the Vatican's position at the international level. Within this framework, he made about 104 foreign trips to 129 countries, which made some call him the "Travel Pope".