Whatever else 2018 was, it was the year in which the crisis of clerical sexual abuse and coverup revealed itself to be a cancer within the leadership culture of the Catholic Church. Protracted, persistent, and systemic, the rot in the hierarchy reaches all the way up, and could reach all the way through the Roman … Read more
“To those who abuse minors I would say this: convert and hand yourself over to human justice, and prepare for divine justice.” Those were the words upon which reporters rightly seized, and from which headline writers took to craft their hooks, when Pope Francis delivered his annual “state of the Church” address to senior officials of the … Read more
Throughout recent interviews, both Cardinal Cupich and Archbishop Scicluna convey a persistent attitude of denial regarding the role of the bishops in the ongoing crisis. Two significant interviews dropped late last week, in which key figures in the organization of the upcoming meeting of the heads of the world’s bishops’ conferences on the theme of … Read more
We wanted to go back to the good old days, the happy time, when ignorance was bliss and Father could be trusted and the Bishop was a smiling cipher. What we have is Bishop Richard Malone. US Attorneys contacted the diocese of Buffalo, NY, in late May, to inform officials of their interest in documents related … Read more
The US and Roman theaters of the crisis in the Catholic Church have entered a new phase of carelessness—of the reputations of men who may or may not have done grave wrong; of the rights of Christians of every age and sex and state of life to know the truth; of the good of the … Read more
Pope Francis’s acceptance of Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl’s resignation from the See of Washington, DC, we see an unmistakable pattern emerging. By accepting Wuerl’s resignation, but also keeping him on as Apostolic Administrator, the Pope shows he is working to a particular modus operandi. There seem to be three basic steps: (1) ignore criticism and impugn … Read more
To cut to the chase: Cardinal Ouellet’s open letter (full text here) has confirmed there were restrictions on then-Cardinal McCarrick. This has been a major point of contention in the press, but it is really a secondary or an ancillary consideration. I’ve been saying from the start — I called it on August 27th, in the Catholic Herald — … Read more
One of the most striking things about this month’s Youth Synod is what is missing. We have heard from various quarters about the Synod Fathers’ need to be the leaders of a “listening Church” – and to lead by example – and we have heard about the bishops’ “credibility deficit” in various ways and modes of … Read more
At the nuncio’s request, Cardinal Wuerl cancelled an event where potential seminarians would have met McCarrick, a spokesman confirmed The bombshell letter of “testimony” written by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the former apostolic nuncio to the United States, regarding the Vatican’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations against the disgraced former Archbishop of Washington, DC, Theodore … Read more
The Pope must come up with a concrete plan to address the crisis Pope Francis has written another letter in the wake of the revelations regarding clerical sex abuse in Pennsylvania. From start to finish, his latest “Letter to the People of God” is full of language we have seen before, or minor variations on themes that … Read more