John Paul II Took Action When Informed of Abuse, Former Spokesman Insists

Catholic Culture
April 25, 2014

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=21219

Joaquin Navarro-Valls, who served as director of the Vatican press office under Pope John Paul II, told reporters in Rome that the Polish Pontiff acted decisively once he realized the depth of the sex-abuse problem.

Countering criticism that John Paul II failed to discipline abusers, Navarro-Valls said: "The way of addressing the pedophilia crisis started very clearly in his pontificate." He added that the investigation that eventually led to disciplinary action against the late Father Marcial Maciel began while John Paul II was Pope.

The former papal spokesman conceded that John Paul II did not immediately recognize the severity of the problem when reports first emerged. "I don't think anyone did," he said. But when reports from the US in 2002 revealed the scope of the problem, the Pope acted promptly, he recalled, summoning the leaders of the American hierarchy to Rome to discuss the problem.

George Weigel, the biography of John Paul II, agreed. "I think there was an information gap particularly between the United States and the Holy See in the first months of 2002, so that the Pope was not living this crisis in real time," he said. But by April, Weigel continued, John Paul II was aware of the scandal and "acted decisively."