UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism
Jerry Slevin
As Pope Francis continues apparently to try to fool Catholics with his “bait and switch” strategy, it is helpful to consider Cardinal Pell, Francis’ new choice to maximize the Vatican’s considerable wealth. Pell’s recently revealed and ruthless treatment of victims of Australian priests’ child abuse makes some Wall Street investment bankers’ approach to making money seem beneficent, it appears.
Pell’s significance has been captured well recently by Fr. Thomas Doyle, O.P., the leading worldwide advocate for over a quarter century of justice for priest abuse survivors.
Fr. Doyle in the 1980′s had futilely advised Pope John Paul II’s US representative, Cardinal Pio Laghi, on priest child abuse curtailment policy. Laghi had just finished overseeing the Argentina Catholic Church’s self serving cooperation with a brutal military in the “Dirty War”, while Pope Francis assisted him, as the local Jesuit provincial, by trying to suppress prophetic local Jesuits who challenged the military.
Doyle in his below article uses his unique hierarchical insights, canon law expertise and long advocacy experience to zero in on Cardinal Pell’s “save the money first” approach that seemingly Francis and his cardinal clique now want Pell to apply to maximize the Vatican’s assets mainly, it appears, to benefit the hierarchy. So much for the “preferential option for the poor”, including abuse survivors, it appears.
It is hardly surprising Pope Francis has not appointed Fr. Doyle to Francis’ long delayed and still illusory advisory committee on child abuse, the latest Vatican public relations façade for covering-up the priest child abuse scandal.
Fr. Doyle’s remarks make amply clear why President Obama must set up now a US national commission, like Australia has, to investigate US child sexual abuse in institutions, including in the various churches. If Obama fails to do this, and if Catholics and others fail to demand that he do so, they are also failing in their Gospel mandated duty to protect children by reasonable and readily available means.
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