(Warsaw) Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was aware of cases of pedophilia in the Polish Church before his election as Pope John Paul II in 1978, according to a journalistic investigation presented Sunday, with supporting testimony, by the Polish private TVN.
While he was Cardinal and Bishop of Kraków (South), Karol Wojtyla was aware of cases of pedophilia committed by priests in his diocese, which he transferred from one diocese to another to avoid scandal, according to survey author Michal Gutowski.
The future pope sent one of the priests to Austria. Cardinal Wojtyla, in this case, wrote a letter of recommendation to Cardinal Franz König of Vienna, without informing him of the charges against the priest.
As part of the investigation, Mr. Gutowski met victims of pedophile priests, their relatives, as well as former employees of the diocese.
He also cites documents from the former SB secret communist secret police and rare church documents to which he had access.
According to the journalist, the Archdiocese of Kraków denied him access to its archives.
It has already happened that the Polish Church refuses to submit documents, even to justice or to a public commission of inquiry in cases of pedophilia.
Wishing to remain anonymous, a witness confirmed that he had personally reported the priest’s pedophile acts to Cardinal Wojtyla in 1973.
Wojtyla first wanted to make sure it wasn’t a hoax. He asked not to report it anywhere, and said he’d take care of it,” said the man, adding that the cardinal had asked him explicitly if the matter could be kept a secret.
“What I found out is unprecedented because it shows what many people have suspected for years, which is that John Paul II knew this problem existed even before he became pope,” Thomas Doyle said in the report. From one of the first reports of abuse of Catholic clergy in the United States.
He should have known, but there was no evidence. And there we have proof.”
A book with similar accusations against Karol Wojtyla is due to be released in Poland on Wednesday. The result of the investigation conducted by the Dutch journalist Eke Overbeek entitled Maxima Colpa. John Paul II knew.
Numerous cases of pedophilia among clergy, revealed mainly by the media, have shaken the Polish Church in recent years. The Vatican sanctioned several high-ranking Polish officials.
