It was one of those revealing incidents which laid bare a harsh truth about the papacy of John Paul II. In March 2002, the Vatican had finally acknowledged defeat in its efforts to remain aloof from the child sexual abuse scandal engulfing the Catholic Church, writes Mary Raftery.
Nowhere was the clamour for answers from the Pope greater than among Catholics in the US. The explosion of revelations of child abuse by priests and cover-ups by bishops showed no signs of abating. After months of silence, John Paul was eventually forced to refer to the issue. In a letter dealing primarily with the sacrament of penance, he devoted a mere three sentences to the immense scandal engulfing the church.
Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, head of the Congregation for the Clergy, was sent out to front a news conference on the papal letter. It was a big story, and throngs of American journalists had gathered in Rome to cover the Vatican's first official response to the scandals.
Cardinal Castrillon arrived at the press conference and announced that he wished to hear all of the journalists' questions first before giving any answers. One after another, the reporters fired their questions at him. When they had finished, the cardinal produced a two-page document and proceeded to read it aloud. As the journalists again asked for answers, he replied testily: "Excuse me, I didn't interrupt your questions, I hope you won't interrupt my answer." Having read his pre-prepared statement, the cardinal promptly left the room.
This medieval approach to anyone who presumes to question the Vatican typifies its attitude towards one of the key issues by which the papacy of John Paul will in future decades be judged - namely the Catholic Church's concerted strategy to conceal the criminal activities of its paedophile priests.
John Paul tellingly did not refer specifically to paedophilia in his 2002 letter. Rather, he referred to "our brothers" succumbing to "mysterium iniquitatis" (the mystery of evil). His emphasis was on priests as victims, whose "often heroic self-sacrifice" had had a "dark shadow of suspicion" cast over it.
According to Cardinal Castrillon, the clerical abuse scandals are not the fault of the Catholic Church. The problem is "today's culture of pansexualism and libertinism". It is interesting to note that this insightful individual is a possible successor to John Paul II, with the bookies quoting him at odds of 20 to one.
A culture of denial, secrecy and evasion of responsibility pervades the body of cardinals who will select the next pope. The notorious Cardinal Bernard Law, formerly Archbishop of Boston (before he resigned in disgrace), is by no means either isolated or unsupported among his colleagues. His selection to preside over one of the important memorial Masses for John Paul II in Rome this week has caused a furore in the US. It sends an unmistakable message that consideration for the thousands of victims of clerical abuse in Boston and elsewhere is of little concern to the Vatican.
Cardinal Law's rapid rehabilitation by John Paul II was striking. Appointed as archpriest of one of Rome's four key basilicas, he enjoys a monthly salary of €4,000, a well-appointed apartment in the city, a staff to look after him, and a chauffeur-driven car. He also gets to vote for a new pope, never having lost his position as cardinal.
One of Law's staunchest supporters has been widely tipped for several years as the next pope. Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez from Honduras (odds of five to one with the bookies), does not see it as his role to report paedophile clerics to the authorities.
"I'd be prepared to go to jail rather than harm one of my priests," he proclaimed in 2002.
The same Cardinal Rodriguez was exposed last year as having harboured a fugitive child-molesting priest, assigning him to parish duties in his diocese of Tegucigalpa. His persistent refusal to answer any questions on this does not appear to have harmed him in the succession stakes for pope.
And what of the only Irish vote within the College of Cardinals? Our own Cardinal Connell was deeply embroiled in the allegations of cover-up surrounding clerical child sexual abuse in Dublin, a matter shortly to be the subject of a State-appointed commission of inquiry.
These, then, are some of the select group who will choose the next pope. They appear to lay great emphasis on the importance of appealing to young people, as we are told did John Paul II. They would do well to heed the words of Fr Tom Doyle, the American priest who has done so much to expose the deceit of church leaders on the issue of clerical abuse.
Writing this week, he referred to this as "a sad testimony to one of the bleakest aspects of John Paul II's papacy. In spite of the adulation and praise, especially praise for his love of youth and his concern for them, there is one significant group of youth upon whom he turned his back - the men and women whose youth and whose lives had been shattered by the sexual devastation by clergy."