Euromost News Special Feature Report
(Also Why The Pope Should Resign)
1: Obituary: Lech Kaczynski
The death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, other government officials including approximately 40 members of the Polish Parliament and other passengers on April 10th was a black day for Poland. It was laced with irony as those on the fatal flight were on a trip to the area where the plane crashed to pay their respects to over 20,000 Polish soldiers massacred by the Soviets in ww2.
Lech Kaczynski was born in Warsaw in 1949 the son of a World War II resistance fighter who installed in him and his twin brother a strong belief in the values of Polish nationalism. As a student he studied Law and Administration at Warsaw University at which he graduated.
He had a chequred political history having been closely invoved in the anti government organisations in the 1970's culminating in him becoming a legal adviser to the striking shipyard workers at Gdansk and the Solidarity mvement in 1980. At this time he became friends with Lech Walesa who was to become Polands first democrativally elected President as the Soviet grip on Eastern Europe waned. In 1989 he became a senator and in 1990 was appointed by the new president as Security Minister in the Presidential Chancellery. He was sacked in 1992 by Lech Walesa due to a conflict of interest with country's government..
From February 1992 to May 1995 he was President of the Supreme Chamber of Control. He returned to mainstram politics in the summer of 2,000 as Minister of Justice in Jerzy Bukek's government but was dismissed a year later but during this time he gained the support of many Poles for his stance and views on the need to combat corruption.
In 2001 he formed his own political party 'Law and Justice' with his brother He became it's president and his brother it's chairman. In 2002 he was elected Mayor of Warsaw a position which he utilsed to promote his popularist right wing views These included reintroducing the death penalty, banning abortions and on two occasion as Waraw's Mayor he outlawed demonstrations for gay rights. He was a strong advocate of traditionalist catholicism. Though these views were not widely supported in Poland's cities his populist sentimnents struck a chord with the electorate in rural Poland not popular and in 2005 hie was elected as Polands President after convincing the electorate he would lead the counry on ticket founded on Catholic values, social justice and a strong state. A year later his brother became the country's primeminster. .
In 2007 the more liberally minded Donad Tusk became Polands Premier and Lech Kaczynski had found he had less influence on the day to Polish politics. However though the Polish constitution does give the president more power than the prime minister it does give the president a high degree of determination in the nations foreign policy. Following Lech Kaczynski's death politicians and leaders across the world payed tribute to him
Why The Pope Should Resign
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church is reportedly reeling from the public revelations about the activities of some paedophile priests and the allegedly systematic cover up their sins. The church's angst is that it's failure to act responsibly for several decades has damaged it credibility and religious standing. In recent weeks these issues have come to a head because Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger prior to becoming Pope Benedict though empowered to address these issues failed to do so. Those in his Papal circle have rallied around their leader in a chorus alleging that the criticism is unfounded and a personal attacK on the Pope and the Catholic Church by the media.
If this criticism is interpreted as an attack on the status quo in Rome one thing is for certain the Vatican's pain is superficial to that of those children who's innocence was forcibly taken away from them as people they were told to respect and trust abused and raped them. The experiences of many of these children have left them emotionally scarred for life and for some so disturbed that they have committed suicide. The Vatican's angst is nothing.
The other seemingly forgotten victims in this saga of sins are the faithful congregations of the church worldwide. Many feel they have suffered the indignity and humiliation of following the directions of the Vatican and others who have been complicit in allowing the paedophile priests to escape justice and morally lacking by facilitating their committing further offences.
Pope Benedict before becoming the pontiff, was Pope John Paul's right hand man he was known as 'the enforcer'. as he was the church's top doctrinal officer. He was notified of the abuse in America of 200 deaf boys by Reverend Lawrence Murphy from the 1950s to the 1960s but did not defrock the priest concerned. In fact in his capacity as head of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he ordered that that Bishops in Wisconsin stop the 1997 trial of Murphy. This intervention by the Pope is not disputed by the Vatican who say the decision was made because the accused was of 'advanced age' and because the offences had been committed several decades earlier.
He was also aware of the rumors and allegations of child abuse in Ireland and other places in Europe. made against several Catholic priests but took no action. As Cardinal Ratzinger he sanctioned the decision to send another priest accused of abusing boys, the Rev Peter Hullermann, to therapy in Munich rather than hand him over to the authorities. After several days of the therapy he allowed Hullermann to continues his normal pastoral duties which gave him access to more children. Hullermann was later convicted of child abuse.
Both the Wisconsin and Munich cases raise serious concerns about Pope Benedict's judgment. The former suggest that welfare of an elderly man is more important than his being held to account for offences against 200 children. The latter indicates the welfare and vacation of a priest is of greater importance than the safety of vulnerable children. Neither judgment is morally sustainable and worthy of anyone with spiritual authority irrespective of the religious denomination. Anyone making either judgment in a civilized society could anticipate having to take early retirement.
Taken together, it could be argued these judgments indicate that were an indication of a policy of protecting the sanctity of the church as the decisions keep the offences in-house and do not damage the credibility of the church as an institution. This inference which is widely being reported in the media as a 'cover-up' could be co-incidental and is not proven. It is therefore quite possible that statements from the Vatican that Pope Benedict was not actively involved in conspiring to cover up the activities of paedophile priests are true.
However, whether or not Pope Benedict was involved in a cover up is a secondary issue. The primary issue is the judgments he made in the individual cases above. Both were morally flawed as they attached greater importance to the welfare of an individual adult than to the pastoral care and protection of innocent children.
Because of the error of these judgments the Pope, who many Catholics believe by doctrine is the closest man on earth to God, is in an untenable position.
Even radical (not a word found in the Vatican Vocabulary) changes in addressing the problem of how to deal with paedophile priests will not warrant Pope Benedict continuing as leader of the Catholic Church. His future judgments will be questioned and his authority inside and influence outside the church weakened. The latter can be very important on an international stage as was proven by his predecessor Pope John Paul 11 who's role in the peaceful fall of communism was instrumental.
If Pope Benedict does not resign pastoral letters of apology for other instances of child abuse by priests such as the one read at masses across Ireland in March will carry even less weight in future. Even perfectly rational religious theories and teachings may not be taken on their merit. In the interests of the Catholic Church and it parishioners world wide he should lead by example and admit his errors of judgment and retire.