Pope Francis claimed the Catholic Church is being persecuted by accusations — apparently alluding to accusations of homosexual predatory abuse of young males by Catholic Clergy and cover up by the Bishops — again asserting that claims against the Church are “Satanic”.
Curiously, the Pope choose to reiterate these comments at the end of the gathering of the Synod of Bishops, comprised of 250 bishops from around the world, at the Vatican on Saturday.
Pope Francis again asserted Satan, “the Great Accuser,” was attacking the Church through those who make accusations against the Clergy, claiming the devil “in this moment is accusing us strongly, and this accusation becomes persecution,” in an effort to “soil the Church.”
Is it really possible that the Holy Father doesn’t realize how these oddly crude remarks just end up engendering further mistrust from Catholics whose local churches have been decimated by stories of serial predators and scores of innocent victims.
True, the fact that surveys which reveal that American Catholics trust in the Pope has fallen precipitously have no impact upon his authority to govern, the fact is that the relevance of that governance has been severely, if not critically, damaged.
So what are we to take away from these Papal comments?
That those who bring valid accusations against Catholic Clergy guilty of such vile and despicable behavior are doing the work of the devil?
That those who demand accountability from the hierarchy and the compensation for their suffering and pain are operating with Satanic motives?
Most interesting is the fact that Pope Francis only began to make such claims of a hellish persecution of the Church after Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano released an 11-page letter accusing him personally and 32 other high-ranking Church officials of actively covering up allegations against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. And he did so conveniently and cleverly within the context of the celebration of Holy Mass.
This allowed him to attack the Archbishop and still hold true to his initial reaction to reporters that he would “not say a word” concerning the accusations, urging them to look at the facts and make up their own minds.
Those remarks and the recent thinly veiled jabs at those who are calling for justice for decades of homosexual abuse of young males are repugnant to fair minded and loyal members of the Catholic faithful who are appalled at the level of indecency that appears to be rampant among the Bishops and Clergy.
What the Holy Father may not realize is that these derogatory remarks against victims and their advocates are creating an atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion that his highly publicized meeting with Presidents of Bishops’ Conferences from around the world in February will be a whitewash of the real crisis facing the Church: the loss of spirituality and morality within the ranks of the hierarchy itself.
Pope Francis' cheap and unseemly attacks against victims and advocates for justice and transparency are symptomatic of the cancer of cluelessness and indifference that is eating away at his Pontificate.
If the Pope isn’t going to cooperate and personally engage in cleaning up the mess created by homosexual Clergy and the Bishops by telling the world the truth regarding the scourge of scandal that has beset the Church, it would be better that he simply be silent rather than belittle those so terribly damaged by the horrific attacks made upon them by the homosexual predators to whom they were entrusted for pastoral care.
No comments:
Post a Comment