Poland: thousands of Poles demonstrate to defend the reputation of former Pope John Paul II

Europe 1 with AFP 16:15 pm, April 02, 2023

Thousands of Poles demonstrated Sunday to defend the reputation of former Pope John Paul II, recently accused of covering up pedophilia crimes when he was archbishop, in a country known for its attachment to the Catholic faith. On horseback, in historical costume or just with a yellow and white flag of the Vatican or white and red of Poland, tens of thousands of Poles followed in Warsaw a "National March for the Pope" that died in April 2005, AFP journalists found.

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A march supported by the government

Like all the others, this march was organized by Catholic organizations and circles with the support of the government and the ruling populist nationalist party (PiS). The Polish Minister of Defence, Mariusz Blaszczak, took part. "Just as every honest man defends his children, his father and his mother, every Pole defends John Paul II," read one of the placards at the demonstration. "What is happening in Poland is a big scandal (...) a deliberate action to destroy the authority" of the Polish pope, said a protester, Alicja Fabertynowska.

"We pass the test by carrying the truth, which must oppose lies, slander and insults," Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki tweeted.

"Bywa nieraz, że stajemy w obliczu prawd, dla których brakuje słów". Mija 18 lat od tamtego wieczoru, gdy do Domu Ojca odszedł nasz Drogi i Kochany Jan Paweł II. Tamtego wieczoru modliliśmy się w świątyniach, w domach, a nawet choćby w myślach za Niego. Był dla nas... pic.twitter.com/bk5ztfvfhW

— Mateusz Morawiecki (@MorawieckiM) April 2, 2023

His chancellery, that of President Andrzej Duda and members of the PiS have published on their sites messages in defense of the memory of the former pontiff, particularly venerated in Poland, even if the official cult of Saint John Paul II is also cracking there, especially among young people.

A concert organized in the birthplace of John Paul II

A concert is to be held in the evening on the main square of Wadowice (south), Karol Wojtyla's hometown, organized by state television, which is to be attended by Mateusz Morawiecki and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the PiS. The latter "thanked God for this immeasurable gift that was and remains the Polish Pope for the Church, for Poland and for the world," in a letter to members of his party. "We stand up to defend his honour and his good reputation," he insisted, just a few months before the general elections. President Duda is due to visit the Vatican on Monday to pay his respects at the tomb of John Paul II.

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National railway company PKP on Sunday handed out cream cakes enjoyed by the former pope to passengers on some express trains, according to news reports. On the same day, however, a statue of John Paul II was vandalized in Lodz (center): his hands were covered with red paint and the base marked with an inscription "Maxima culpa" ("The greatest fault", editor's note).

This inscription refers to the book by journalist Ekke Overboek Maxima culpa. John Paul II knew, recently published in Poland. This book and a similar report broadcast on a commercial channel claimed that the future pope had covered up pedophilia cases, provoking a heated debate between the government and the Church, on the one hand, and liberals and the left on the other.