Despite statements overflowing with child-like ignorance, Pope Francis is in fact a very canny operator.
Nowhere is the more apparent in the high-stakes game he is playing to cover up his own involvement with the pederasty priests.
Let us recall his order to prevent the US bishops from developing a stringent code of conduct, or how he "rehabilitated" Cardinal Theodore McCarrick without any actual rehabilitation happening.
Indeed, without the courage of Archbishop Carlo Vigano, little if any of this would have come to light. Pope Francis was in standard damage control mode after the devastating revelations and he has sought to downplay everything to do with it, even writing a flowery letter to McCarrick completely out of character with the man's crimes.
But the wheels of justice are turning. McCarrick has lost his red hat and now the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is recommending he be expelled from the clergy all together. Defrocking McCarrick is a minor step, but the most the modern Church can do. Civil authorities will now have to take action. The man is old and reportedly banished to a Kansas monastery, but he needs to see the inside of a prison cell, as do all of his twisted partners in crime.
Strong Church inquiries also need to be made regarding the conduct of the bishops of Kentucky and their reaction to the Convington Kids hoax. Bishops are supposed to be shepherds and protect their flocks, yet these men joined the wolves who attacked their sheep. Some have already fulsomely apologized, but a stronger stance has to be made.
Bishop of Lexington John Stowe in particular deserves careful scrutiny. It is an undeniable fact that the vast majority of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church targeted boys and male teenagers. Stowe has been very loud and conspicuous in his outreach to the gay community. Did he use this highly publicized compassion to exploit vulnerable members of his diocese?
Some will no doubt raise the cry of "homophobia," but that is in fact what allowed this disgusting abuse to go on for so long. Under the rubric of "openness" and "compassion" countless children were molested and assaulted right under the very noses of their parents and community. Just as the rape gangs in England use cries of "racism" to shield their predatory behavior, it's clear crooked priests and bishops did the same by waving a rainbow flag.
Of course a full accounting won't take place until Francis is gone, but people of goodwill within the Church must set the table so that the next pope's job is that much easier.
It's not homophobic to point out pedophile predators are operating in the Catholic Church.
Posted by: Alkiabades | February 11, 2019 at 10:30 AM