Claim links late pope to row over shielded paedophile

Spanish media are quoting a retired Vatican cardinal as saying the late Pope John Paul backed his letter congratulating a French bishop for risking jail by shielding a priest convicted of paedophilia.

Websites of La Verdad and other Spanish newspapers today reported Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos told an audience at a Catholic university in Murcia, Spain, that he consulted with John Paul and showed him the letter.