Beatification of Giovanni Paolo II: Appeal to clarity

[News]

The official opening of the beatification cause of Giovanni Paolo II on 28/6/2005 solicits all catholic men and women, who feel responsible and take part of their Church life, to send their testimonies on works of the Roman Pontiff dead on 2/4/2005.

As correctly announced, both favourable and contrary testimonies to Karol Wojtyla's glorification can be sent to the competent Vicariate office in Rome, as long as all of them are founded on objective data.

Keeping into account media over-exposition during last days of Pope's illness and on the occasion of his death, it seems to us opportune to propose some references to those catholic women and men, who give for many aspects a negative evaluation of his actions as a Pope, without ignoring of course positive aspects of his pontificate, like his engagement for peace or his attempt to admit historical misdeeds of Church sons and daughters in the past, without denying his virtuous aspects and without judging his intimate conscience.

With this appeal we therefore invite these persons to overcome reluctance and timidity and to formally express with evangelic freedom facts which, based on their knowledge and convictions, should be an obstacle to his beatification.

Signers of this appeal believe that, with respect to Giovanni Paolo II pontificate, the following points, in particular, should be critically evaluated:

1 - Repression and alienation exerted on theologians and religiouses, through authoritarian interventions of the Congregation of faith doctrine.

2 - The tenacious opposition to reconsider, in the light of Gospel, science and history, some sexual ethics regulations, which showed their contradictoriness, limitation and untenableness, during over 26 years pontificate.

3 - The hard reconfirmation of the discipline of compulsory ecclesiastic celibacy in the Latin Church, ignoring spreading of concubinage among clergy in many regions and hiding the ravaging scourge of abuse on children by clergymen, until this exploded publicly.

4 - Missing control on turbid financial manoeuvring carried out by Holy See institutions and the obstacle to avoid Italian Authority threw light upon obscure implications of the Institute for Religious works (Ior, Vatican bank) with Banco Ambrosiano crack.

5 - The reaffirmed unavailability of the pontiff and the Curia he led to open a serious, real debate on woman conditions in the Roman Catholic Church.

6 - The continuous postponement of fulfilment of collegiate principles in the government of the Roman Church, although enunciated with solemnity by Vatican Council II

7 - The ecclesial, factual isolation in which mons. Oscar Arnulfo Romero, archbishop of San Salvador, was left by papal diplomacy and Holy See and the improvident policy of weakness towards governments in Latin America - from Salvador to Argentina, from Guatemala to Chile - which have persecuted, emarginated laics, religiouses, priests and bishops, who courageously denounced sin structures of dominant political regimes and economical power, and let them die.

(From We Are Church Italy)

[Gert]

Vänner,

Helgon är inte perfekta människor utan fel och brister. Någon har sagt att helgon är människor som är genomskinliga för Gud. För många, katoliker och andra, var JPII en sådan människa.
Men det var personer som mest såg honom som kyrkans utrikespolitiker och mästerlige kommunikatör.
Problemet är att JPII inuti kyrkan förtryckte de mänskliga rättigheter han kämpade för utanför kyrkan. Han centraliserade makten och utövade den på ett mycket auktoritärt vis.
Detta hindrar i och för sig inte att JPII skulle kunna vara ett helgon. Vi blir helgon på våra förutsättningar. Men en helgonförklaring nu vore en kyrkopolitisk handling, en del i en maktkamp.
Oavsett vad vi anser om JPII tycker jag att kyrkan skall avhålla sig från att använda honom som vapen i en strid mellan konservativa och liberala kyrkomedlemmar.
En gammal god princip vid helgonförklaringar är att tiden är det bästa sållet. Vi står alldeles för nära JPII:s död för att kunna värdera honom på ett någorlunda rimligt sätt. Om 50 år eller så har luften klarnat. De som lever då kommer att se tydligare än vad vi kan göra.

Gert Gelotte