Pope: The allegations against John Paul II are baseless

Pope Francis defended the late Pope John Paul II. And the leader of the Catholic Church complained yesterday, after Regina Coeli’s prayer in front of the faithful in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, that this “the subject of these days is an insult and baseless allegations.” Francis did not say what allegations he was referring to.

In March, a documentary caused an uproar in Karol Wojtyla’s native Poland, accusing him of knowing about allegations of abuse against priests in the 1960s and 1970s before he was elected pope as Archbishop of Krakow and protecting the perpetrators by means of transportation.

Orlando case

However, Italian and Vatican media reported on Francis’ statement the statements of Emanuela Orlandi’s brother, who disappeared nearly 40 years ago. The Papal States judiciary has been investigating the case since January. Prosecutors want to investigate the suspicion and leads that Orlandi, the daughter of a therapist and a Vatican citizen, has been kidnapped or killed. The teenager did not return home on June 22, 1983 after a music lesson in the historic center of Rome. No body was found.

After a meeting with the Vatican prosecutor, her brother Pietro again commented on the case on a TV show last Tuesday. He said he was convinced that both Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI. And Francis knew or knew what happened at that time.

However, a statement that left room for translation caused an uproar: Orlandi said he had heard Wojtyla kept going out in the evenings with two friends, a couple of Polish priests, and certainly not “to bless the houses”. He later clarified on another program that he had never accused John Paul II of pedophilia. His words were used to grab headlines.