For me, Pope John Paul II was great as a man, great as a pope and great as a saint – wrote the dean of the College of Cardinals to the journalist of TVN, Marcin Gutowski, refusing to give an interview to this station. A long-time close collaborator of St. John Paul II emphasized the contribution of the Holy Father in the fight against the sexual abuse of minors by clergy. The Catholic News Agency received a copy of the letter, addressed March 29, 2022. Below we publish its content in translation into English.
Dear Mr. Gutowski,
I received your kind letter of March 25 and I asked for information about the broadcast of TVN television belonging to the Discovery. I learned with amazement about certain programs that threw mud at the figure of Pope St. John Paul II.
I do not consider it possible to give an interview to the television. For me, a close collaborator during his pontificate, Pope John Paul II was great as a man, great as pope, and great as a saint.
He has always stood firm and vigorous against the sexual abuse of minors. In this regard, it should be borne in mind that in those years there were no known abuses or testimonies that were known only years later. Many victims did not make accusations or even talk about it, and therefore during the pontificate of Pope Wojtyla, many things that came to light in the following years were not known.
With regard to the transparency and firmness with which Pope John Paul II addressed the problem of abuse, I will confine myself to recalling his attitude when, at the beginning of 2002, the Pope received news of scandals in the USA, especially concerning the Archdiocese of Detroit.
John Paul II summoned Cardinals from the United States to Rome. The meeting continued throughout the morning and afternoon of Tuesday, April 23, 2002. Also present were Cardinal Ratzinger, Cardinal Medina, Cardinal Castrillon and the undersigned.
The Pope listened to what was reported to him, intervening and emphasizing the expression “zero tolerance” as a directive. That is to say, with regard to the abuse of minors, the line to be followed was a strict line, without any tolerance in this area, but a line of ‘zero tolerance’.
The Pope closed the meeting with a speech, which is published in the series published by Libreria Vaticana “Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II” XXV, 1 (2002), pp. 606-608, in which we read, among other things, that the Pope stated: “People must know that in the priestly state and religious life there is no place for those who would harm minors.”
John Paul II was an unforgettable and holy Pope, to whom Divine Providence marked great tasks. He awakened the world’s sense of God, and also contributed to the fact that the Soviet empire collapsed without bloodshed. His long pontificate is astonishing because of the greatness and magnificence of the works carried out, because of the many initiatives, because of the acceptance he has gained, and because of what constituted his moral and spiritual guidance. However, speaking about Father Stanisław Dziwisz, I must say that he was a faithful and good secretary.
With cordial greetings,
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re
Giovanni Battista Re was born on January 30, 1934 in Borno in the Diocese of Brescia in the north of Italy. After studying at the minor seminary, which he entered in 1945, and studying at the major seminary, he was ordained a priest on March 3, 1957. In October 1958 he was sent to study in Rome, where in 1962 he obtained a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University. At the same time he studied at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.
In 1963 he started working in the diplomatic services of the Holy See, e.g. in Panama and Iran. From 1971 he worked in the Vatican Secretariat of State, where from December 12, 1979 he was an assessor. On October 9, 1987, John Paul II appointed him Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops and Titular Archbishop of Vescovio. At the same time, he was also secretary of the College of Cardinals. The Holy Father personally consecrated him on November 7 of the same year. From 1989 to 2000, Archbishop Re was a substitute for general affairs. On September 16, 2000, the Pope appointed him Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. On February 21 of the following year, John Paul II included him in the College of Cardinals. Since October 1, 2002 he has been a member of the group of cardinal-bishops.
He was Delegated President of the 10th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2001. In May 2007 he presided over the Fifth General Conference of Latin American Bishops’ Conferences (CELAM) in Aparecida. He retired on June 30, 2010. As the most senior cardinal-elect, in 2013 he presided over the conclave that elected Pope Francis on March 13 last year. On January 8, 2020, he became Dean of the College of Cardinals.
He has repeatedly represented the Holy Father at important church ceremonies in various countries, m.in in October 2003 he was the main guest from the Vatican at the celebration of Papal Day in Poland.
He was one of the closest collaborators of John Paul II. In July 1998, he took advantage of the Holy Father’s summer vacation in Lorenzago di Cadore and invited him to his hometown of Borno – it was a great holiday for the entire area. For the first and only time it happened that the Pope, as part of his July summer vacation, made a trip “in a crony way” to the home of the curial dignitary. Commentators perceived this as a special expression of appreciation and trust of the Holy Father for one of his closest collaborators.
In April 2010, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re received the Commander’s Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. This high distinction was awarded to him by President Lech Kaczyński on April 1, 2010 for outstanding merits for the development of cooperation between the Republic of Poland and the Holy See and for his activity for the Catholic Church in our country.
Text after the weekly ‘Niedziela’
