CNA Staff, Dec 8, 2020 / 09:20 am
St. John Paul II's "highest priority" was combating clerical abuse and protecting young people, a Catholic archbishop said Monday in response to what he called "unprecedented attacks" on the Polish pope.
In a Dec. 7 statement, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, president of the Polish bishops' conference, defended John Paul II's legacy in the wake of the McCarrick Report, which unleashed criticism of the pope who appointed McCarrick as archbishop of Washington in 2000 and made him a cardinal a year later.
"On the 100th anniversary of the birth of St. John Paul II, we are witnessing unprecedented attacks on his person. The pretext is the alleged failure of the Pope to disclose and punish the clergy -- perpetrators of sexual abuse against minors," Gądecki said.
"People who thoroughly research the history of the pontificate of the Holy Father know very well that the issues of protecting children and youth and counteracting any abuses by the clergy were the Holy Father's highest priority."