(posted by frenchie)
Ever since the revelations about the shenanigans of former Cardinal Mc Carrick at the beginning of this summer, which were closely followed by the release of the Pennsylvania's Attorney General grand jury findings on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in that state; as well as the open letter of 11 pages by Archbishop Vigano, which openly accused several key prelates of the USCCB, and the Vatican, of coverup, revealing that Pope Francis had taken several controversial decisions in full knowledge of the issues; the media circus has gone full speed ahead with daily revelations to complicate what should be a clear cut issue.
We have written here at length about the jockeying by different currents inside the Catholic Church itself, as well as the obvious spinning by certain secular media outlets, according to their political leanings.
In the past two weeks we have been bombarded by so many opinion pieces, and partial information, that I found it necessary to kind of clean up the process a little and explain what is happening at this time.
Despite (or because of) all his efforts to stay clear of the controversy Pope Francis himself has found himself, being pulled further and further to the center of the still developing scandal of the coverup by leaders of the Church both in the USA and in the Vatican, regarding the involvement in sexual abuse by bishops and cardinals, but also into the systematic coverup of said abuse.
The scandal is profound and disturbing, because it involves Cardinals who have elected Pope Francis, and could still elect his successor. It is compounded by the fact that many of these actors are the same who have actively steered the Church towards a "modernist" approach to the teachings of the Church on key issues, from abortion, to gay rights to other issues of so called "social justice issues" (immigration, borders, islam, etc)
Right after the revelations of Archbishop Vigano, there was an almost immediate and concerted effort to discredit him, by destroying his credibility and savaging his character. This effort was led by several Bishops in the USA, most notably the Bishop of San Diego, Cardinal Cupich of Chicago, and Cardinal Wuerl of Washington DC. (all of whom are named by Vigano in his report)
Several other prominent actors, like Cardinal O'Malley and Cardinal O'Brien (sadly well remembered here on Guam for trying to silence this blog), or the Archbishop of Seattle were less frontal, but still very critical of Archbishop Vigano.
While Archbishop Vigano, fearing for his life has looked for refuge in destination unknown at this time. Cardinal Pirolin, has sent a message to the whole of the Vatican Diplomatic Corps to actively search for the Archbishop, to bring him back to the Vatican for trial......... Something unseen, since some of the darker days of the inquisition.
On the other side of the spectrum few conservative prelates have been demanding for more clarity from the Pope. Several opinion pieces have actually asked for a synod of Bishops to handle the issue.
The leftist media, from Le Monde, the Guardian, Der Spiegel, CNN, ABC, CBS and others have strangely moved from initially defending Pope Francis (who they perceived as like minded) to revealing that the Pope actually knew about Mc Carrick, but also that as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he engaged in a campaign of threats and denials against alleged victims of abuse.
Nothing in that dossier is easy: most Catholics were surprised also to find that the Pope at first advocated silence, but then proceeded into aping Cardinal Cupich in accusing the whistle blowers of doing the work of the devil (strong accusations if ever)
Cardinal DiNardo, the head of the USCCB who had asked earlier for a clear and open answer to the accusations of coverup, is now entangled in some revelations, that he himself was not very forth coming about abuser in his diocese of Houston. (this puts him in a weak position for his upcoming meeting with Francis)
Personally I knew from the experience of personal friends, that he had been quite harsh against people complaining to him of sexual abuse when he was still Bishop of Sioux City.
At this time the USCCB is deeply divided on the issue. It is not helped any, by the aggressive and disturbing defense of the coverup by some key Cardinals in Europe, who are trying to deconstruct the problem, and making it a problem of administrative proportion rather than a crisis of moral decay, as it clearly is. (But since it involves the social justice,left wing of the Church, everything seems justified)
There are a few voices, like our own Archbishop, who have had innovative and constructive recommendations, but they are still too few and too isolated.
Lets pray, that the truth shall prevail, and that the light shine of the darkness of evil.
I hadn't heard that Parolin wants to put Archbishop Vigano on trial. Any links? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteTo Blaise and anon at 4.42pm, please read my upcoming post about these sources.
ReplyDeleteThank you, have a great Sunday
Little Guam. What good can come from there?
ReplyDeleteWell in my opinion it has a model of Catholicism that could become a mustard seed for the whole church.
A small island with high catholic population and a good, holy, humble arch bishop who serves God and the Church and not his personal aggrandisement AND a well organised laity.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if AB Byrnes were to consecrate Guam to
the immaculate heart of Mary
and insist that the ncw gives the names and locations of all predators they are harbouring so that they can choose whether to come clean and confess to receive God's mercy and his justice.
Perhaps this model of Catholicism will become the norm that disenfranchises clericalism and a corrupt hierarchy worldwide.