UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism
‘Pope Punts; Backs Pell & Mueller Over O’Malley; Failed CDF To Get 5 Years To “Develop Proposals” To Judge Bishops On Child Abuse Crimes
Jerry Slevin
Pope Francis is conducting Vatican business as usual at the “old boys’ club”, it appears. Pope Francis has responded, in effect, to Peter Saunders’ attempt to get the illusory papal advisory “abuse commission” under Cardinal Sean O’Malley to hold Cardinal George Pell, Bishop Juan Barros and other bishops accountable for alleged child sexual abuse cover-up crimes. The pope has apparently passed the buck to his successor and evidently left the unaccountable bishops’ abuse scandal mess under its current failing Vatican set up.
In effect, the fundamentally flawed Congregation For the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) under Cardinal Gerhard Mueller and his tainted US Jesuit aide, Fr. Robert Geisinger, will continue to run the “abuse cover up zero tolerance show” as before. Geisinger is the Vatican’s current top prosecutor of abusive priests and had been implicated, along with several other Catholic officials, in allowing a notorious abusive priest to remain in ministry for years after learning of his long history of sexual abuses, legal documents show according to the Boston Globe. Geisinger’s efforts at the Vatican to date are neither impressive nor reasons for Catholic parents or survivors to hope the Vatican will ever police and reform itself effectively or transparently.
The director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., has indicated, in effect, that that Council of Cardinals (C9), with the pope participating, all unanimously (including the pope) approved five specific proposals {my italics}, namely:
It is proposed that:
“1. because the competence to receive and investigate complaints of the episcopal abuse of office belongs to the Congregations for Bishops, Evangelisation of Peoples, or Oriental Churches, there is the duty to report all complaints to the appropriate Congregation;
2. the Holy Father mandate the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to judge bishops with regard to crimes of the abuse of office when connected to the abuse of minors;
3. the Holy Father authorise the establishment of a new Judicial Section in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and appointment of stable personnel to undertake service in the Tribunal. The implementation of this decision would follow consultation with the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith;
4. the Holy Father appoint a secretary to assist the prefect with the Tribunal. The secretary will be responsible for the new Judicial Section and the personnel of the section will also be available to the prefect for penal processes regarding the abuse of minors and vulnerable adults by clergy. This appointment will also follow the consultation with the prefect of the Congregation;
5. the Holy Father establish a five-year period for further development of these proposals and for completing a formal evaluation of their effectiveness; …” (emphasis mine).
So there you have it! After stalling on the abuse scandal for over two years, the pope has decided to stay with the same flawed team and passed the ultimate buck to whomever is pope in five years — likely Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Cardinal Angelo Sodano’s protege. This is about what I had expected and have tried to warn Catholics against since the pope was elected in March 2013.
Will all or any of the abuse commission members now resign? They have apparently been relegated to a mere academic study group status, no?
This development will likely have immediate negative implications for the Vatican, especially in the USA. For over three decades, the Vatican and US bishops have been close political allies of the US Republican party and its “low tax/lower regulation/least safety net” billionaire donors. For over two of those decades, the Vatican and its US bishops have had fundamental disagreements with the US Democratic party’s most prominent woman and current leading presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, as noted here.
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