John Paul II

May 3, 2011 - Vatican Canonizes John Paul II as Patron Saint of Ignoring Problem Until You Die Karol Józef Wojtyła, alias John Paul II, was the Pope and head of the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 until his death in 2005. JP II traveled widely and was popular with and respected by many Catholics, and even some non-Catholics, worldwide. While he is credited with playing an important role in the fall of communism, particularly by using the Church's strong influence in communist Poland, other aspects of his reign were problematic. Despite these problems, Pope Francis canonized Pope John Paul II as a saint in April 2014.

Child abuse scandals in the Church
JP II's biggest failure was his inaction on the issue of priestly paedophilia. According to The Sunday Times, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) tried to investigate reports of sexual abuse when he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the office responsible for such matters. According to one Austrian cardinal, Ratzinger was "blocked by 'the Vatican', an apparent reference to John Paul." and according to The Guardian, JP II prevented Ratzinger from investigating Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, who drew in big donations but also systematically abused children and young men as far back as the 1940s, kept two mistresses, fathered several children (two of whom he abused) and led a life without principles.

However, other reports have also suggested Ratzinger had no intention of investigating, and that the protection of the Church was everyone's goal. Reports have since come to light showing that Ratzinger intentionally hid facts, moved priests to other dioceses, and blamed local officials and employees (not associated with the Church) instead of focusing on the priests.

Religious, social, and political views
Pope John Paul's roles in the Church had a significant effect on how the Catholic Church was seen in the world. Not only was he influential in ending communism in Poland, he changed how the Catholic Church officially and practically interacted with the Jewish community, the Muslim community, Buddhists, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and even Baptists.

Women were still perceived as nothing but walking wombs, and the Pope, even in light of growing concerns about AIDS, denounced the use of condoms and birth control. Catholic women's groups approached him many times to discuss the ordination of women, to no avail.

Evolution
In a message to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences during October, 1996, Pope John Paul II officially endorsed the theory of evolution:

He also asserted that science and religion stand side by side, each with a different role:

John Paul also commented on the varying scientific and philosophical explanations of evolution:

The mistranslation
The Vatican's French press release misprinted the Pope's speech, quoting him as saying "la theorie de l'evolution, plus qu'une hypothese." At issue was a comma, which makes the line "plus qu'une hypothese" potentially ambiguous since it can mean either "more than a hypothesis" or "more than one hypothesis." The line was then translated by the English Vatican Paper, The Observer as "the theory of evolution, more than one hypothesis."

Some creationists continued to cite this version of the translation, even after the Vatican officially amended it and issues an official clarification.

World Youth Day
Get 'em while they are young!

John Paul II established World Youth Day, when tons of adoring adolescent fans worshipful youth converge into one city in the world and pray, cry, sing and whatever else is necessary to Praise God and the Pope. Few outside observers can tell a difference between "World Youth Day" and Woodstock, except perhaps that the Catholic youth are better groomed. This move re-popularized and re-energized an ageing religion that was seen as ineffective in many parts of the world, including the US, the UK, Australia and Canada, all of which saw a rise in church participation after World Youth Days were initiated.

More recently, the pedophile scandal explained above has caused a decline in church attendance and in the authority of the church in many places.