This week Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano released his third open letter or "testimony."
It is powerful stuff. In his introduction he states plainly that he feels compelled to speak out because to do otherwise would put his soul in mortal danger. He cannot go before God without telling the world all he knows about the evil lurking in the bosum of the Catholic Church.
The then goes on and rebuts the Papacy's talking points that his charges have been successfully disproven or refuted, noting that the Pope's henchmen are focusing on discrediting things he didn't say and ignoring the things he did say.
The conclusion, however, is even more powerful:
As to the second silence, this very grave crisis cannot be properly addressed and resolved unless and until we call things by their true names. This is a crisis due to the scourge of homosexuality, in its agents, in its motives, in its resistance to reform. It is no exaggeration to say that homosexuality has become a plague in the clergy, and it can only be eradicated with spiritual weapons. It is an enormous hypocrisy to condemn the abuse, claim to weep for the victims, and yet refuse to denounce the root cause of so much sexual abuse: homosexuality. It is hypocrisy to refuse to acknowledge that this scourge is due to a serious crisis in the spiritual life of the clergy and to fail to take the steps necessary to remedy it.
Unquestionably there exist philandering clergy, and unquestionably they too damage their own souls, the souls of those whom they corrupt, and the Church at large. But these violations of priestly celibacy are usually confined to the individuals immediately involved. Philandering clergy usually do not recruit other philanderers, nor work to promote them, nor cover-up their misdeeds -- whereas the evidence for homosexual collusion, with its deep roots that are so difficult to eradicate, is overwhelming.
He's absolutely right. We live in a fallen world, and when a leader fails to live up to a moral code, it is a tragedy.
Given the size of the Catholic Church, such failings are inevitable. They are to be expected and they happen in all faiths because all religious leaders in this world are mortals, prone to error by their nature.
What sets this scandal apart is that there is an organized faction within the Church hiding and enabling it.
Like most Catholics, I assumed Church leaders were simply unaware of the scope of the problem and had been duped and betrayed by canny and unscrupulous predators. I believed that the payments and coverups were made out of a sincere (but flawed) hope that the individuals would repent and sin no more and the fear that the Church's reputation would so harmed as to damage its mission.
It goes without saying that I strongly disagree with the Church's actions, but I thought I could understand them.
I know know - the world now knows - differently.
These crooked priests and their degenerate bishops never meant to reform, they were only playing a game. They victimized not just children, but also other priests in their depravity.
And they were overwhelmingly homosexual.
Indeed, they celebrated this fact and flaunted it whenever possible, only to play the victim card about Catholic "homophobia" whenever they faced exposure.
But sexual predators are despicable whether gay or straight.
The State of Michigan is now conducting on investigation and the dioceses are promising full cooperation. Closer to home, one of the pastors in my diocese recently resigned his position after credible allegations of sexual harassment. We've since learned that his target wasn't just a church employee, but another priest.
How often did priests keep this to themselves, fearful of retaliation or creating scandal? It is sad that such things have happened, but also encouraging that good men are speaking out and stopping this behavior in its tracks.
Pope Francis has long frustrated conservative Catholics with this erratic utterances, obsession with trendy progressive causes and his constant flirtations with heresy, but his failure to address this situation directly has destroyed his moral authority.
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