A frequent theme in the assessments of John Paull II runs along these lines, written in this case by E. J. Dionne at Commonweal:
When historians look back, John Paul’s greatest achievements will inevitably be seen as liberal, in the broadest sense: his commitment to human rights and religious liberty, his calls for greater social justice, his embrace of workers’ rights (“the priority of labor over capital”), and his strenuous opposition to religious prejudice. Recall that John Paul was the first pope—not counting St. Peter—to visit a synagogue, where he issued a ringing condemnation of anti-Semitism.
What I find astonishing in this, is its myopia. While I welcomed JPII’s obvious and strong commitment to all these good things in the secular world, I cannot share in the adulation for a leader who urges on others, what he steadfastly refused to do himself. His commitment to worker rights was contradicted by his disregard for those principles in dealing with the bishops and theologians with whom he disagreed. His calls for social justice did not extend to the victims of clerical sexual abuse.
John Paul of course did not create the Vatican dictatorship, but he did go a long way to derailing the promising reforms of Pope John XXIII (Dionne’s remarks on JPII quoted above were made in the context of a proposal to detoxify the imminent beatification by moving ahead with the cause for John XXIII). The problem is that there is a deep-seated autocratic, monarchical culture in the Vatican, which has nothing to do with either Scripture, or the earliest traditions of the Church. A useful article by at National Catholic Reporter traces the historical background. Here are some extracts: (more…)
