VATICAN CITY
Radio New Zealand
The Vatican has dismissed allegations that Pope John Paul II – who it will declare a saint on Sunday – turned a blind eye towards one of the Catholic Church’s most damaging scandals.
John Paul is accused by a number of commentators of failing to come to grips with the sexual abuse crisis and highlighted by the Vatican’s warm welcome to a priest who became known as a serial abuser.
More than 1 million people are expected to attend the ceremony at the Vatican, at which Pope John XXII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963, will also be made a saint.
John Paul is being fast-tracked to sainthood, only nine years after his death, and an all-time record, the BBC reports.
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