(27 Apr 2005)
1. Various FILE shots of Reverend Konrad Stanislaw Hejmo, a Dominican monk, entering Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital to visit Pope John Paul II
STORYLINE:
A Polish official said on Wednesday that the priest in charge of caring for Polish pilgrims at the Vatican collaborated with the communist secret police in the 1980s when the late Polish-born John Paul II was the pope.
An investigation into communist-era persecution of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland turned up documents showing the Reverend Konrad Stanislaw Hejmo, a Dominican monk, "was a secret collaborator of the Polish secret services under the names of Hejnal and Dominik."
Leon Kieres, the head of the institute that investigated Nazi and communist crimes in Poland, revealed the information to reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.
69-year-old Hejmo could not immediately be reached for comment by The Associated Press, but Polish state television reported he denied the allegations.
Hejmo's Dominican superior, the Reverend Maciej Zieba, told reporters he saw the files and called them "convincing and shocking."
John Paul inspired resistance to communist rule and is credited by many with helping bring about its collapse in 1989.
Hejmo is very popular among the Polish pilgrims who flocked to the Vatican after John Paul's election to the Holy See in October 1978.
He was also often quoted in the news media, commenting on the condition of the pope when he was ill.
John Paul died April 2.
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