Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley to meet with priests over abuse letter

By Sean Philip Cotter
BostHerald
August 28, 2018

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2018/08/boston_s_cardinal_sean_o_malley_to_meet_with_priests_over_abuse_letter

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, shown with Pope Francis in this 2015 photo.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley will be meeting behind closed doors with priests from across the archdiocese today and Catholic activists say the clergy are expected to hit him with hard questions amid a growing church sex abuse scandal.

“He has created a crisis of confidence for both priests and the laity in the archdiocese,” said Louis L. Murray, a Catholic activist and president of the board of Boston Catholic Radio, who has spoken with a number of priests in recent days.

Numerous priests contacted by the Herald declined to comment.

The archdiocese confirmed today’s meeting, saying in a statement, “News of recent days has been difficult for survivors, first and foremost, but also for all Catholics. Just as Cardinal Sean wrote to all Catholics last week, he met with Pastoral Center staff last week and is now gathering priests of the Archdiocese to connect with and support them.”

O’Malley, chairman of Pope Francis’ Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, faces accusations of ignoring a priest’s letter trying to warn him three years ago about now-disgraced ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was stripped of his title in June after allegations of sex abuse were deemed credible.

O’Malley released a statement last week saying he never received the letter, blaming his executive secretary for failing to pass it along.

“Bright sunlight is the answer that people are looking for,” said Murray, who in a Herald column, has called on O’Malley to resign.

Layman canon-law consultant and area Catholic activist Peter Borre also said he has been in touch with numerous priests who are voicing concerns.

“The Archdiocese of Boston is not being run well,” Borre told the Herald. “There are signs of neglect and dysfunction within the archdiocese itself.”

Both men pointed to a bombshell letter released over the weekend by a former Vatican diplomat to the United States that accused Pope Francis of brushing the allegations against McCarrick under the table — and mentioned O’Malley by name.

“Regarding Cardinal Sean O’Malley, I would simply say that his latest statements on the McCarrick case are disconcerting, and have totally obscured his transparency and credibility,” the letter read.

Though some have questioned the motives of its author, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who has longstanding differences with Francis, Borre and Murray both said they find the letter believable and deeply troubling. Borre invoked the early-2002 reports of the massive scandal about sexual abuse and its cover-up in Boston as the only modern equivalent Catholic event in scale.

“The biggest thing to hit the church since Jan. 6, 2002, the Vigano letter, has arrived,” Borre said.