A fallible Pope

Of all the issues facing the Roman Catholic Church the canonization of John Paul II is probably the least important. For many it will represent the icing on a cake consisting of various burdensome layers of deceit, lies and corruption. The facts are irrefutable. John Paul II despite his many positive qualities turned his back on the victims of sexual abuse, allowed pedophile priest to be moved from parish to parish, and ordered these most vile crimes to be held in secret, hidden from the general public. At the same time it was during his reign that an investigation into accusations of sex abuse by the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado founder of the Legionaries of Christ were first effectively squelched.

That same silence and secrecy was applied to the huge banking scandal (the collapse of the Vatican Banca Ambrosiano in 1982, with debts of up to $1.3billion) which occurred during his pontificate. Since September 2010 the Vatican Bank is again under investigation by Italian officials.

John Paul II embraced and then canonized Josemaria de Balaguer in record time. This controversial figure founder of Opus Dei openly defended Adolf Hitler stating that Hitler had been unjustly accused of killing 6 million Jews when he had killed only 4 million! Escrivá was well known for his political involvement with right-wing causes, such as the dictatorships of Generals Francisco Franco in Spain

Pope John Paul II has been called the champion of human rights, but publically denied those same rights to members of his own clergy defending ‘liberation theology’. Surprisingly this same Pope offered support to Chile’s ruthless dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

It was under John Paul II in 1999 that human rights were violated when the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) declared that Catholic workers should no longer be engaged in pastoral work with lesbian and gay persons. What rights or truths was this Pope defending when he silenced more than a hundred Catholic theologians throughout his reign?

Pope John Paul II created more saints than the entire number originated by all of his predecessors. He beatified over seven hundred men and women and declared over three hundred saints. Until Wojtyla’s papacy, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints had had to certify two miracles for each person beautified; John Paul II lowered the bar to one miracle.

Catholics who have tied their faith to the Church will undoubtedly consider this report slanderous. However, in the Catholic Church co-dependency works in both directions. Millions of Catholics have been taught that disobedience to the Church is tantamount to disobeying God – and that is perhaps the greatest lie that has been perpetrated by the hierarchy for centuries. An all loving God does not make demands, punish, play favourites, or offer rewards to his people. God simply loves unconditionally and desires nothing more than to reveal his healing presence that exists within the hearts and souls of all humankind.

Sources:

Carl Bernstein & Marco Politi, His Holiness – John Paul II and the Hidden History of our Time, Doubleday, 1996

Jason Berry & Gerald Renner, Vows of Silence, The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II, Free Press, 2004.

David Yallop, The Power and the Glory – Inside the Dark Heart of John Paul II's Vatican, Carroll & Graf, 2007.

David Gibson, The Rule of Benedict – Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World, Harper Collins, 2006.

Michael W. Higgins & Douglas R. Letson, Power & Peril – The Catholic Church at the Crossroads, Harper Collins, 2002.