Pope Francis has defended the late Pope John Paul II against accusations made in a recent documentary film that claimed he ignored abuse allegations by priests and protected them by transferring them. Francis said the former pope, born Karol Wojtyła in Poland, is “these days the object of insulting and unfounded insinuations.” He made the remarks on Sunday before the faithful in St. Peter’s Square, though he did not specify which accusations he was addressing.
The documentary, which sparked an uproar in Poland in March, alleges that Wojtyła knew about priests’ abuse in the 1960s and 1970s while he was archbishop of Krakow and that he shielded perpetrators by moving them to new assignments. Italian and Vatican media linked Pope Francis’s statement to comments made by Pietro Orlandi, the brother of Emanuela Orlandi, who vanished almost 40 years ago. The Vatican’s judiciary has been investigating the case since January, with prosecutors seeking to pursue the suspicion that Orlandi, the daughter of a Curia employee and a Vatican citizen, was abducted or murdered. The teenage girl disappeared on 22 June 1983 after a music lesson in Rome’s old town, and her body has never been found.
After meeting with the Vatican’s chief prosecutor, Pietro Orlandi spoke again on a television program on Tuesday, saying he was convinced that Pope John Paul II, as well as Benedict XVI and Francis, knew—or still know—what happened. His ambiguous statement caused a stir. Orlandi recounted hearing that Wojtyła went out every evening with two friends, both Polish priests, and not “to bless the houses.” On Friday, he clarified in another broadcast that he never accused Pope John Paul II of pedophilia and claimed his words had been instrumentalised to generate headlines.
Comments are closed for this story.