WASHINGTON D.C.
The Washington Post

October 12, 2018

By Editorial Board

In wrestling with the scourge of pedophile priests, Pope Francis has attacked clericalism — the deference accorded to the Catholic Church’s hierarchy at the expense of the faithful — while leaving himself vulnerable to the very same charge. So it was on Friday regarding Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, who was implicated in covering up clergy sex abuse when he was the bishop of Pittsburgh. The pope accepted the cardinal’s resignation but at the same time lauded his “nobility” and protected much of his standing and influence within the church.

That mixed message on sexual abuse of minors has been a hallmark of Francis’s papacy. With practically each move he makes to contain the erosion of the church’s authority, he subverts his own purpose, and by extension the institution itself, by his ambivalence.

No doubt, Mr….