UNITED STATES
The Morning Call
Pope Francis’ visit to Philadelphia is being billed as a “World Meeting of Families.” The motto reads: “Love is our Mission: The Family Fully Alive.”
While the pope has admirably denounced economic inequality and made strides on certain social issues, scandals in the Catholic Church continue to raise skepticism about its self-proclaimed role as protector of the family.
The Morning Call recently reported that an advocacy group for clergy sex-abuse victims, the Catholic Whistleblowers, wants Pope Francis to investigate the child protection records of Cardinal Justin Rigali, former archbishop of Philadelphia, and Cardinal Raymond Burke, who led dioceses in Wisconsin and Missouri.
I admire the group’s efforts, but I’m not sure how much we can expect from the Church’s leaders.
Just last year, Francis whisked away Papal Nuncio Jozef Wesolowski from the Dominican Republic, when it was discovered the nuncio had been luring young boys into his beach house to engage in sex for money. Critics believe this directly contradicted the Church’s stance of reporting pedophile priests to secular criminal justice systems. The Church invoked diplomatic immunity and secretly recalled him to Rome without informing local authorities.
In a New York Times piece, Antonio Medina Calcaño, dean of the faculty of law and political science of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, argued: “From the pure standpoint of justice, [Wesolowski] should be tried in the country where the acts took place because the conditions for trying him will not be the same elsewhere.” (The nuncio passed away in August. He was under house arrest in the Vatican awaiting trial by Vatican authorities.)
Details about the nuncio’s actions are disheartening, as impoverished boys as young as 14 were offered increasing amounts of money for sex acts. One boy, who normally earned just $1.50 a day, said he was given $10 to shine the nuncio’s shoes and swim naked in the ocean. He was later paid $25. Then $135. Over time, he received gifts like new sneakers. And a new watch.
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