President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference urges Catholics to reflect on the pontificate and historic legacy of the Polish Pope

Chairman of the Polish bishops observed that we are increasingly hearing questions about John Paul II's attitude towards the tragedy of sexual abuse of minors by the clergy: “This attempts to destroy the legacy of this unique pontificate.”

In the communiqué, Archbishop Gądecki once more highlighted that John Paul II as the first Pontiff of the Catholic Church, to the best of his knowledge, resolutely addressed cases of abuse of minors, and introduced Church-wide accountability standards for this type of crime.

President of the Polish Bishops' Conference pointed out that the reason for the “media assault on St. John Paul II is e.g. the approach of some social groups to his teaching, especially the value of human life and its protection from conception to natural death, the value of marriage and the family and the morality of sexual life,” which “is opposed by contemporary ideologies, which promote a distorted vision of the human being, hedonism, relativism, and moral nihilism.”

Press Office of the Polish Bishops' Conference

The full text of the communiqué:

COMMUNIQUÉ
OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE POLISH BISHOPS' CONFERENCE

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In the communications media, we are increasingly hearing questions about John Paul II's attitude towards the tragedy of sexual abuse of minors by some clergy and about his response to such crimes during his pontificate. It has been increasingly alleged that the Holy Father did not deal adequately with such acts and did little to address the problem, or even covered it up. Formulating opinions of this kind seems to be a kind of fad. This is aligned with the attempts to undermine the authority of John Paul II and even to question his sanctity, confirmed by the beatification and canonization process. Consequently, this attempts to destroy the legacy of this unique pontificate.

The root cause of the media assault on St. John Paul II is e.g. the approach of some social groups to his teaching, especially the value of human life and its protection from conception to natural death, the value of marriage and the family and the morality of sexual life, as well as in his theology of the body, which is opposed by contemporary ideologies, which promote a distorted vision of the human being, hedonism, relativism, and moral nihilism.

An honest pursuit of the truth and bearing witness to it is the duty of every right conscience. That is why on November 14, in Jasna Góra, the Permanent Council of the Polish Bishops’ Conference drafted a position regarding the action taken by John Paul II with respect to sexual crimes against minors. This extensive study takes into account the historical context and the then state of knowledge as well as the social, cultural and legal context of the time when St. John Paul II lived and worked.

I call on the faithful to read this text and to reflect on the pontificate and historic legacy of the Polish Pope, who as the first Pontiff of the Catholic Church, to the best of his knowledge, resolutely addressed cases of abuse of minors and introduced Church-wide accountability standards for this type of crimes.

Due to the length of the document, it is available on the websites of the Bishops' Conference, individual dioceses, parishes, and Catholic media across Poland.

I confer on all of you my pastoral blessing,

+ Stanisław Gądecki
Metropolitan Archbishop of Poznań
President of the Polish Bishops' Conference

Jasna Góra, 14 November 2022

Translated by M. Turski / Office for Foreign Communication of the Polish Bishops’ Conference