Pope John Paul II covered up the abuses of priests

As bishop in Krakow, Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005, knew early on that priests in his diocese were abusing minors. Even when pedosexual priests were sentenced to prison, he allowed them to continue working in another diocese. This can be seen from Polish documents tracked down by a Dutch investigative journalist. Vatican specialists define the discovery as “explosive”.

Dutch journalist Ekke Overbeek, who worked for Trouw e News time works, lives in Poland and spent two years digging through Polish archives. “I found concrete cases of concrete priests in the archdiocese of Krakow, where the future pope was archbishop, who abused children. The future pope knew about it and in any case he transferred those men. This led to new victims”.

Polish Pope John Paul II was born Karol Józef Wojtyła. He was one of the most popular and influential popes in history. He fought communism in his home country. But as a conservative pope, he has also vehemently opposed divorce, same-sex marriage, birth control, abortion and extramarital sex.

In 2014 he was canonized very quickly by the current Pope Francis. Prominent Catholics already warned at the time: there were indications that Wojtyla was looking away from allegations of sexual abuse.

There is a block on all ecclesiastical archives of the Roman Catholic Church. But in Poland, secret service documents are public. He kept an eye on the Catholic Church during the communist period, for forty years. Overbeek sought information about Wojtyła, the future pope, in detours.

«The documents that have been collected directly on Wojtyla have almost all been destroyed. But he is mentioned very often in other documents that have come down to us. child abuse by priests has been addressed.”

Overbeek calls the trials “hard.” He examined dozens of documents documenting the plight of four pedophile priests. One such sex offender is the priest Eugeniusz Surgent. Overbeek: “For example, a report written on the basis of a cellmate of this priest, who at that time had already been arrested for abuse. The cellmate recounts that the priest asked for forgiveness in a letter to Bishop Wojtyla, after having promised him it would never happen again. success. But then he had done it again.

There is also an interrogation of the priest suspected of abusing boys. “He describes being with Cardinal Wojtyla and talking to him about it,” says Overbeek, who has written a book about his research and evidence of him. Maximum faultwhich will be published in Polish early next year.

Stanislaw Obirek is professor of cultural anthropology at the University of Warsaw. He is a Catholic Church specialist and has read the first version of Overbeek’s book. “What I’m reading is explosive. It’s comprehensive and it’s accurate. It overturns the previous image of the pope. Because he wasn’t part of the solution, he was part of the problem. He didn’t do anything.”

He is shocked that so many priests’ affairs have been kept under wraps. “Cases of pedophilia, covered up by the bishop of Krakow and many others”. Obirek calls it brave that Overbeek dared to write it. “First-hand information, authentic, historical and accurate information that unveils the myth of John Paul II as the holy man almost from his youth.”

So far it has only been known that Wojtyła learned of sexual abuse by clergy in the United States in 1985. He was given a report by American Tom Doyle, a priest who worked at the Vatican embassy in Washington. Doyle is dedicated to researching abuse in the Catholic Church. Doyle himself has now also studied Overbeek’s proofs.

Overbeek: “The reasoning of the church – of the pope’s defenders – boils down to the fact that he would not have known. That he understood the seriousness of the situation very late and that first he thought it was America’s problem. Al Those are the arguments now can be abandoned.”

Critics may question the evidence, which after all comes from the Secret Service. And he was not well disposed towards the Roman Catholic Church. But the expert Obirek is convinced of the authenticity. “This kind of material, the same sources, are still used in Polish politics today. No one rejects this kind of evidence, quite the contrary.”

Doyle is convinced too and it doesn’t even surprise him anymore. “I’ve already seen a lot. Above all from the side of the institutional Church and the bishops”. The action of the church would really surprise him. “That a bishop will one day stand up in front of his people and say, ‘I am the bishop and I just want to tell you how sorry I am about all this sexual abuse. I will visit all the victims. We will do what we can for them. We will behave like Christians.” . That would upset me, but it’s not happening.”

This is what the Catholic Church has been afraid of for a long time, Overbeek thinks. “They were in a great hurry to canonize John Paul II. And now you see facts emerging from those Polish archives that are very incriminating and can therefore effectively cast doubt on his sanctity.”

While Overbeek was putting the finishing touches on his book, the Polish church called on Surgent victims to come forward. And just this week the Polish media reported that the Vatican would decide to investigate the Polish period of Pope John Paul II. For questions about it News time the diocese of Krakow and the Vatican do not want to comment.

Professor Obirek thinks all people who still cling to John Paul II’s holiness should be prepared to face serious trials. “We now know that Wojtyła actively covered up the crimes of pedophilia committed by priests under his jurisdiction. This is a new chapter, a first step. We will see how the Church will react”.