UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism
Jerry Slevin
The Pope is treating Cardinals as obedient pups, even trained seals, not as successors to the Apostles. He springs on them suddenly his move to a nearby convent with Georgeous Georg, then tells them they cannot read the very relevant secret report about Vatican scandals, then tells the UK’s sole representative he cannot vote and finally (so far) tells the rest of the voting Cardinals he is cutting down the voting period. Of course, the Vatican Cardinal clique has likely had plenty of time to scheme for their candidate, as they watched the papal convent being reconstructed over several months. Collegiality or servitude? The effects of the early lessons the German Shepherd learned in his formation as a young recruit in Hitler’s Wehrmacht are becoming more evident daily. Will Cardinals play dead or bark back? Or will they just let the prosecutors take conrol? Cardinal Dolan already objected to shortening the pre-Conclave period. Will others now join him?
Increasing numbers of Cardinals seem to be facing serious criminal prosecution risks that likely could increase rapidly unless the Vatican is reformed promptly and broadly. Last year, Philly’s Cardinal Bevilacqua avoided almost imminent prosecution by dying first and his top aide is in prison. Prosecutors and jurors will likely no longer give Cardinals the benefit of the doubt and the media is aggressively reporting Cardinals’ sins more often. The next Pope must confront these risks honestly and openly or the risk of imprisonment will almost surely only increase for Cardinals worldwide. The next Pope must require that abuse survivors are treated justly and that children are protected effectively. He must assure that hierarchical wrongdoers are exposed, removed and punished transparently and promptly. He must end the financial scandals; not just ship a key financial player to South America. These pressing imperatives require new leadership and real reforms now, especially to minimize prosecution risks..
In the past week, Catholic scholar, Hans Kung, Dominican priest, Matthew Fox, and Oxford historian, Sir Diarmaid MacCulloch, have weighed in on the current crisis. Their brief assessments must be listened to, or some Cardinals will likely be prosecuted sooner rather than later.
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