Rome, Italy
AP
The Vatican marked the 40th anniversary of the attempt on the life of St John Paul II with a Mass on Thursday, amid muted commemorations in Poland where the Catholic hierarchy is grappling with a legacy of failures to confront clergy sexual abuse.
Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, John Paul’s closest aide, celebrated the morning Mass at the tomb of John Paul inside St Peter’s Basilica. Dziwisz recalled how John Paul fell into his arms after he was shot during an audience in St Peter’s Square by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca on 13th May, 1981.
John Paul survived, forgave Agca and met with him in prison.
In this Wednesday, 12th May, file photo Pope Francis arrives in the St Damaso Courtyard at the Vatican for his weekly general audience. St John Paul II’s closest aide marked the 40th anniversary of the attempt on the pontiff’s life with a Mass at the Vatican on Thursday, 13th May, amid muted commemorations in Poland where the Catholic hierarchy is grappling with a legacy of failures to confront clergy sexual abuse. Pope Francis, for his part, noted the anniversary during his Wednesday general audience. Addressing Poles, Francis recalled that John Paul repeatedly said he owed his life to the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima, to whom he was particularly devoted. PICTURE: AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino.
Dziwisz, John Paul’s private secretary and later the archbishop of Krakow – now retired – noted in his homily that Rome has often witnessed hard-to-understand aggressions or attacks on the church – a possible reference to the criticism currently being leveled against the Polish hierarchy.
Pope Francis has removed or given early retirement to a handful of Polish bishops who were accused of covering up sex abuse by their priests. Just this week, Francis accepted the resignation of the bishop of Bydgoszcz, Jan Tyrawa, after an investigation into allegations of negligence handling abuse cases.
Tyrawa was mentioned in TV documentaries in Poland about alleged sex abuse by priests and cover-up by their superiors. The allegations have come as a shock in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.
Dziwisz has strongly defended John Paul against claims the Polish pope was slow to grasp the gravity of abuse in the Catholic Church.
Francis, for his part, noted the anniversary during his Wednesday general audience. Addressing Poles, Francis recalled that John Paul repeatedly said he owed his life to the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima, to whom he was particularly devoted.
“This event reminds us that our lives and history are in God’s hands,” Francis said.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis met Thursday with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, months after Argentina legalised abortion despite a personal appeal from the pontiff and opposition from the Catholic Church.
In a break with usual practice, the Vatican communique about Fernandez’s visit omitted any reference to issues discussed between the President and Pope. The brief statement provided only a rundown of topics Fernandez discussed with the Vatican secretary of state and foreign minister: the pandemic, Argentina’s financial crisis and its fight against poverty.
The meeting took place in a side study off the Vatican’s auditorium rather than in the Apostolic Palace, where official state visits are usually held. The location, often used for less formal meetings, is where Francis received Queen Elizabeth II in 2014.
It’s the second time Francis and Fernandez have met and added yet another wrinkle in the Argentine Pope’s sometimes strained relationship with the governments of his native country. He has declined to return home since his 2013 election, friends say, because he wants to avoid being used for political ends by the reigning government.
Argentina’s abortion law, which Fernandez firmly supported, went into effect in January. It guarantees the procedure up to the 14th week of pregnancy and beyond that in cases of rape or when a woman’s health is at risk.
Fernandez, a Peronist, had campaigned on pledges to make abortion legal and free. Argentina thus is the largest nation in Latin America to legalize elective abortion, a development feminist movements have hailed and that could pave the way for similar legislation across the socially conservative, heavily Roman Catholic region.
Francis, who has repeatedly denounced abortion as evidence of today’s “throwaway culture,” issued a last-minute appeal before the December vote, noting in a tweet that Christ was born as an outcast, and “came into the world as each child comes into the world, weak and vulnerable.”
The Jesuit Pope had also encouraged opponents of the legislation, writing a letter in November in which he asked: “Is it fair to eliminate a human life to solve a problem? Is it fair to hire a hit man to solve a problem?”
Fernandez is in Italy as part of a European tour that also included Portugal, Spain and France.
– With NICOLE WINFIELD.
