UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage
William D. Lindsey
Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but Pope Francis has been in the news lately. A lot. Headlines yesterday about his scolding of the Vatican Curia ranged from “Francis Gives Roman Curia Officials Coal for Christmas” (Robert Mickens, National Catholic Reporter), to “In Curia: Merry Christmas, You Power-Hungry Hypocrites” (Josephine McKenna, Religion News Service), to “Pope Francis Says the Vatican Curia Is Sick with Power and Greed” (Philip Pullella, Reuters), to “Pope Francis Denounces the Vatican Elite’s ‘Spiritual Alzheimer’s'” (Barbie Latza Nadeau, Daily Beast). I especially like Charles Pierce’s wry summary of Francis’s come-to-Jesus meeting with the Curia:
Spiritual Alzheimer’s?
A mark, that will surely leave.
I’m sure that, within a few weeks, a Senior Vatican Official, or Ross Cardinal Douthat, will explain that the pope really was talking about birth control.
But, still, wow.
As I say, the pope’s in the news. And here’s more good commentary about Francis and his papacy I’d like to recommend to readers today, as you follow the media statements about his remarks to the Curia:
Jason Berry, “How Pope Francis Became the World’s BFF”:
Neither book [i.e., Austen Ivereigh, The Great Reformer and Elizabeth Piqué, Pope Francis: Life and Revolution] gives any coverage to Bergoglio’s handling of clergy sex abuse cases as a bishop and cardinal. The website BishopAccountability.org has posted an extensive file of media reports and documents on scandals in Argentina to suggest that Bergoglio was not a healing pastor to abuse victims. And while as pope he has removed several bishops for child abuse, several prominent cardinals in the Vatican who were grossly negligent in concealing pedophiles, notably the former Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano, have suffered no loss of status. Conversely, Francis has stiffened internal Vatican laws governing child abuse accusations; he has appointed an advisory committee that includes a prominent Irish abuse survivor to develop a policy. The central issue is de facto immunity traditionally given to bishops and cardinals.
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.