Pope's stamina lags; sex scandals persist

Christian Century, April 10, 2002

As an ailing Pope John Paul II struggled through Holy Week rites, the Vatican announced the forced resignation of a Polish archbishop accused of sexually molesting seminarians. And a painful arthritic knee more than once limited the pope's participation at mass. But the Vatican later denied reports that John Paul will undergo an operation.

Concern over the pope's stamina, U.S. warnings of possible terrorist attacks in Italy and a litany of sex-abuse bulletins cast a long shadow over the holiest period of the liturgical year. Allegations of sexual abuse continued to surface in the U.S. It was announced April 1 that the Los Angeles and Orange dioceses paid a $1.2 million settlement to a woman who alleged that a priest molested her as a teenager, got her pregnant and paid for her abortion 20 years ago.

In a departure from customary silence about church misdeeds in Poland, the country's news media reported charges from Catholic priests that Archbishop Juliusz Paetz, 67, of Poznan was accused of making advances to seminarians and making unannounced visits via a 200-yard underground tunnel to their lodgings. Though Paetz said his actions were being misjudged, the Vatican reported without comment on March 28 that the pope has accepted his resignation. Paetz worked in the Vatican Secretariat of State from 1976 to 1983.

The pontiff, who turns 82 on May 18, for the first time in his 23-year papacy did not bend to wash the feet of priests on Holy Thursday to recall Jesus' gesture to his disciples. Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state, and France's Cardinal Roger Etchegaray took his place. The pope, who also suffers from a debilitating neurological disease thought to be Parkinson's, rallied to celebrate Easter mass in St. Peter's Square, delivering greetings in 62 languages.

As if the Catholic Church did not have enough to worry about, the U.S. State Department warned of possible terrorist attacks against Americans in four Italian cities--Milan, Florence, Venice and Verona--on Easter Sunday. The U.S. Embassy said the alarm would remain in effect until April 25. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told the country that Italian authorities were on alert and that he had received reassuring reports from police and secret service agents.

Meanwhile, in Ireland, Bishop Brendan Comiskey of Ferns resigned following criticism of his handling of the case of a pedophile priest, Sean Fortune, who committed suicide in March 1999 just after being put on trial on 66 charges of sexual abuse. The criticism of the bishop was sparked by a recent BBC TV documentary on the case. Comiskey, 66, told a news conference on April 1 that he had done his best but "clearly that was not good enough."