Vatican dismisses BBC documentary implying Pope John Paul II Broke Celibacy Vow

Kremlin.ru [CC BY 3.0 or CC BY 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Kremlin.ru [CC BY 3.0 or CC BY 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The Vatican has issued a statement about the relationship portrayed in the BBC documentary The Secret Letters of Pope John Paul II.

The Vatican vigorously responded to the BBC’s attempt to air a documentary dubbed The Secret Letters of Pope John Paul II. According to its content, the documentary explains the Pope’s close relationship with Anna- Teresa Tymienieka, a Polish-born female philosopher. The documentary questions the deep relationship between the two.

Vatican dismisses BBC documentary implying Pope John Paul II Broke Celibacy Vow[/tweetthis]

The Poland library where Tymieniecka’s letters from the Pope are preserved issued a statement claiming “John Paul II's friendship with her was neither secret nor extraordinary.” Although the analysis of the letters showed a close relationship between the Pope and Tymienieka, the documentary failed to prove that Pope John Paul II ever broke his vow of celibacy.

The ground on which the documentary was basing its facts was further dismissed by the library saying, “The statements made in the media have no basis in the content of the letters of John Paul II to Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, which are in the National Library of Poland’s archives.”

The documentary also has received mixed reactions from various friends of Pope John Paul II. Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was the Pope's secretary for many years, defended Pope John Paul II saying “Those who lived at John Paul II's side knows very well that there is no space for malicious conspiracy theories.” He added that “He was free and transparent; he lived with no complexes because he was a very pure man, as he respected every person in every life's situation. This is the only key of interpretation of his exemplary and holy life.”

Similar sentiments were given by the vice-director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke. Evidence from Witness to Hope the bibliography of Pope John II written by George Weigel showed that Tymieniecka‘s journey of writing letters to the Pope started a long time ago when he was still known as Karol Wojtyla. All the letters were based on his philosophical feelings after the publication of his book The Acting Person.

After ten years of close collaboration with Pope John II, Msgr. Pawel Ptasznik had this to say about the said Secret Letters, “Even when the philosophical debate was concluded, she kept on writing to Cardinal Karol Wojtyla and then to Pope John Paul II. Since he was a very polite man, he used to respond to every letter of hers he received.” Msgr. Pawel Ptasznik is a Polish cleric in the Vatican Secretariat of State.

In conclusion, the allegations concerning Pope John Paul II celibate life brought forward by the Secret Letters of Pope John Paul II documentary have been highly dismissed, and every concerned party has defended the friendship between John Paul II and Mrs. Tyminiecka, terming it as normal and non-secret.

Resources

Follow the Conversation on Twitter