When they realized in Rome that so many bishops had failed to solve problems in their dioceses by applying the standards provided for by the new Codex, or by activating the relevant diocesan tribunals, then the Holy Father and Cardinal Ratzinger jointly decided. On April 20, 2001, a document was published which provided for the inclusion of sexual abuse of a minor by a clerical person in the list of canonical crimes, reserved exclusively for the competence of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
That is why I find it as an insult – I repeat: an insult – that some continue to oppose John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger (first as Prefect of the Congregation and then as Pope) in this matter, attributing to one or the other the will to hide this terrible scourge.
Of course, it remains a fact that even the Pope, if he is not assisted if he is not upheld by the College of Bishops, may face enormous difficulties in trying to heal certain situations, even if they are serious, much less scandalous. It is enough to mention a letter so painful that Benedict XVI wrote to Irish Catholics after discovering the outrageous attitude taken by some bishops in the country. Even more – it is the opinion that often circulates about the last period of John Paul II’s pontificate – the Pope may have difficulty in deciding when he is sick, very sick…
With the permission of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz – “At the side of the Saint”
St. Stanislaw BM Publishing House, Krakow 2013
