VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider
The Archbishop of Boston, the Capuchin monk who beat the paedophilia plight, is an “odd” choice of papal candidate
Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City
One of the papabili arrived in Rome a few days ago. He is wearing a Capuchin habit and has an imposing disposition. He is a determined man devoted to prayer who ten years ago was called to perform a miracle that was considered impossible: restore the credibility of the Catholic Church in Boston which was crumbling as a result of the paedophilia scandal that had led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law. He has a typical Irish name, Patrick O’Malley, was a missionary in the Virgin Islands and is deeply involved in assisting the U.S.’s Latin communities. He is also plays a leading role in the pro-life movement.
The Capuchin cardinal is not one of those candidates who are known favourites for the papacy, such as Marc Ouellet. O’Malley is an outsider, a surprise candidate whom electors could pick if there is a vote gridlock.
As a figure, the Archbishop of Boston, manages to unite Europe and the Americas in some way. When he arrived in Boston, once a stronghold of U.S. Catholicism, he found the diocese on its knees. Cases of sexual abuse of children had been covered up and paedophile priests moved from one parish to another, free to continue abusing new victims. The situation was disastrous: vocations and mass attendance had dropped and the Church had lost a great deal of credibility. The archbishop came to the diocese wearing his friar’s sandals and without causing an outcry. He started listening and also making decisions. He paved the way to a path of purification and renewal and now the situation that existed ten years ago is just a horrible memory. Faithful are returning to Church and vocations have picked up again.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.