Polish parliament condemns media 'hate campaign' against Pope John Paul II

The Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, passed a resolution condemning a "disgraceful hate campaign" in the media against the Polish-born Pope John Paul II.

On Monday, private broadcaster TVN 24 aired Franciszkanska 3, a report by journalist Marcin Gutowski, which investigated the cases of three priests: Boleslaw Sadus, Eugeniusz Surgent and Jozef Loranc.

The report alleged that the then metropolitan of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, who later became Pope John Paul II, knew about cases of child sex abuse by the three priests under his authority but allowed them to work in the church and may even have helped cover it up.

The report caused a lot of emotion in the Catholic country that reveres its world-famous compatriot.

In a resolution passed on Thursday by the conservative ruling Law and Justice PiS party, the MPs said that the disgraceful hate campaign in the media was largely based on materials created by the apparatus of oppression of communist Poland, which targeted the Great Pope Saint John Paul II, the greatest Pole in history.

The resolution reads that his words and actions demonstrated and aroused love of the Motherland by actively supporting the Polish nation in its striving to regain freedom and become an independent state.

The media report was intended to discredit John Paul II with materials that even communists did not dare to use, according to the MPs. The MPs also cited a resolution naming 2020 The Year of John Paul II:

Saint John Paul II occupies a special place in the history of Poland and Europe. His strong advocacy for the right of our motherland to freedom among European nations and his practical defence of the rights of our nation have made the Holy Father the most important founding father of Poland's independence. The MPs said that the pope's teachings were important guidelines for social life.

The resolution was supported by 271 MPs in the lower house, 43 were against and four abstaining.