Two statues to Pope John Paul II have been damaged in Poland in the last week, following sensational allegations in a book and a documentary that he allowed pedophile priests when archbishop of Krakow. On Friday, one individual was arrested in connection with the Lodz incident.
“Regardless of what one thinks of the Pope, vandalism is never the solution.” “It’s difficult to find words to describe such behavior on the anniversary of someone’s death,” local officials in central Poland said on April 2, posting a photo of the vandalized monument on Facebook.
Another papal monument had been vandalized by Monday morning in Stalowa Wola, eastern Poland.
The Lodz Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the arrest of a 25-year-old man on Friday morning, charging him with defacing the monument and insulting the sensibilities of believers. He risks up to two years in prison if convicted. According to RMF24, there were additional perpetrators, and the incident was captured by security cameras at the cathedral’s entrance.
The Lodz statue had been splattered with crimson paint, the pontiff’s face had been painted yellow, and the pedestal had been inscribed with “maxima culpa.” (ultimate fault). Authorities believe this was a reference to the title of a book published in Poland last month by Dutch journalist Ekke Overbeek.
Overbeek claims that as archbishop of Krakow in the 1970s, the future Pope covered up sexual abuse of boys by at least three Catholic priests. Similar assertions were made in a documentary produced by journalist Marcin Gutowski for the Polish channel TV24 and shown in early March.
John Paul II was born Karol Wojtyla and is the only Pole to have served as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the Archbishop of Krakow from 1964 until his election in 1978. His ascension is often attributed for igniting anti-Communist sentiment in Poland in the 1980s. John Paul II died in 2005 and was canonized in 2014.
Polish authorities responded to the allegations by saying that all allegations of sexual abuse must be thoroughly investigated, but they defended the late Pope by claiming that his critics relied on lies fabricated by the Communist government and that the Catholic church was in a difficult situation at the time.
