Whenever I come across a story or a statement about the Church, the Pope, about a particular Bishop or Priest, I wait several days to see whether or not a Church official or the individual referred to is going to offer a response.
A couple of days ago, Cardinal Cupich is reported to have told a group of seminarians, who are self-described as “being physically ill over the Catholic Church's most recent sex abuse scandal” that he isn't bothered by allegations that Pope Francis and his predecessors may have protected members of the Clergy accused of sexual crimes.
Speaking to a group of 200 Chicago-area men training to be Priests at the prestigious Mundelein Seminary, that he “thought this was over,” that the Bishops had "done their jobs," and that he was "at peace" and sleeping soundly, even as the Catholic Church finds itself in a moment of crisis such as the Church has never known in its history.
Cardinal Cupich reportedly told the young men, “I feel very much at peace at this moment. I am sleeping OK."
He followed up by repeating an earlier contention that the Church -- and the Pope -- have bigger things to attend to than allegations of widespread corruption within the Church's hierarchy, and credible reports of sexual abuse networks that span several American states.
"We have a bigger agenda than to be distracted by all of this,” the Cardinal said, adding that he was focusing on helping the homeless, the sick, and victims of violence.
A seminarian present at the talk independently confirmed the content of the Cardinal's talk. He is scheduled to speak again at Mundelein next week.
Seminarians were left in "disbelief" at his comments, with many shaking their heads, calling the Cardinal "non-pastoral."
"The People of God need to know that their seminarians care," a seminarian told the Chicago Sun-Times, adding that the Church needs to know their future Priests “aren’t going to repeat the mistakes of the past — not only not repeat them but have them cleaned up.”
If this report is true, and thus far it hasn’t been denied by His Eminence or the Archdiocese of Chicago, it is yet another indication that the Cardinal and others continue to circle the wagons, wishing and hoping that the scandal will blow over rather than address it directly.
How these Prelates don’t understand that their words and actions leave the Catholic faithful in wonderment and scandal is beyond both reckoning and belief.
What more can I say?
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