Fr. Robert Necek, spokesman of the Bishop’s Curia in Krakow - where John Paul II’s former secretary is now Metropolitan Archbishop – gave a statement on behalf of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, saying that Paolo Gabriele had never worked in the papal apartments during Wojtyla’s pontificate. He outrightly denied rumours about Benedict XVI’s butler entering the apartments during his predecessor’s pontificate.
There is, however, a “Polish clue” in the affair involving the Pope’s disloyal butler.
It is a known fact that Paolo Gabriele worships the Shrine of the Divine Mercy of St. Faustyna Kowalska, who was beatified and canonized by John Paul II, in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Sassia, near the Vatican.
Addressing Poles during the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, Benedict XVI referred to the message in the Polish saint’s famous diary.
The Pope said he hoped “that the fire of Divine Mercy would transform the hearts of youngsters throughout the world and fill them with peace, strength and hope.”
The Pope’s words were clearly addressed to the young Polish people gathered these days in Lednica near Poznań, but it is likely that they were also pronounced in light of the recent events in the Vatican.