Pope silent on claim he ignored abuse

Will this scandal be enough to make a sitting pope step down?

www.yahoo.com...

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis has declined to comment on a claim that he ignored sexual abuse allegations against a senior clergyman amid speculation conservative elements in the Catholic hierarchy are using the issue to mount a "putsch" to remove the liberal pontiff.

It appears the pope is getting internal pressure on this issue now.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican envoy to the United States, on Saturday said he had told Francis of the allegations against prominent US cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 2013. But rather than punish McCarrick, who was forced to resign last month, Vigano said Francis had lifted sanctions imposed on him by his predecessor pope Benedict XVI. "Corruption has reached the very top of the Church's hierarchy," Vigano said in a letter published in the National Catholic Register and several conservative US Catholic publications.

Vigano claimed Francis asked him about McCarrick when he took office in June 2013, but that the pope ignored his warnings. He said the pope "knew from at least June 23, 2013, that McCarrick was a serial predator," adding that "he knew that he was a corrupt man, he covered for him to the bitter end".

This Theodore McCarrick appears to be a dastardly character.

www.vox.com...

Everybody in James’s family called him “Uncle Teddy.” Father Theodore McCarrick was a New Jersey priest, whose charisma and intelligence had already set him on a clear course to rise in the Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy. But to James, at age 11, whose story the New York Times reported last month (using only his first name), “Teddy” was a close family friend, an adviser, and a mentor. He was also, James said, the man who exposed himself to James for the first time when he was 11. The man, James said, who first molested him when he was 12. And the man, James said, who got him drunk, took him to a hotel room, and assaulted him when James was 15. According to the Times report, James attempted to tell his family of the persistent abuse, only to be met with denial and disbelief

But last month, Pope Francis accepted McCarrick’s resignation from the College of Cardinals over allegations that he had sexually harassed and abused minors and young seminarians over the past several decades. According to a statement released by the Vatican, McCarrick has been instructed to live out a “life of prayer and penance,” and will have to remain in seclusion pending an ecclesiastical trial.

These people need to be prosecuted like any other that sexually assaults a child would be. Why has no prosecutor pursued rico charges against this criminal institution?

a reply to: shooterbrody

Pope silent on claim he ignored abuse?

At least he's consistent.

No one who believes a scary beardy dude is watching over us would do something like this.
So if it's not about god what is it all about?

a reply to: shooterbrody

I’d bet a shiny quarter that it’s not so much that he just ignored the abuse, as it is that he personally participated in the abuse at sometime in his career.

These people care more about protecting their institution then they do about the abused children, they have shown this time and time again. Pedophiles see this, so of course they are going to join the church because what other job can you have on this planet where you can get caught molesting children and your employer actively silences the children and transfers you to a brand new batch of victims.

a reply to: shooterbrody

If the Roman Catholic Church would pull their heads out of their backsides and allow their clergy to take mates like most other religions maybe this wouldn't be happening so much! Jesus said that it was better for a "priest" to remain celibate in order to better serve his God but he never said it was absolutely required!

Even worse is some people in the Catholic Church don't seem to mind, don't think it's a big issue
Then we could consider JW.org and their attitude as well " keep it in house and we will deal with the issue" pretty disgusting

Let's hope the Catholic Church pass these crimes onto civil authority and justice is served

a reply to: Krahzeef_Ukhar

Ouch, that is a scorching perspective. Perhaps not untrue but savage.

a reply to: Quantumgamer1776

I’d bet a shiny quarter that it’s not so much that he just ignored the abuse, as it is that he personally participated in the abuse at sometime in his career.

Well he would have had the same access as the others that abused minors, so perhaps.

These people care more about protecting their institution then they do about the abused children, they have shown this time and time again. Pedophiles see this, so of course they are going to join the church because what other job can you have on this planet where you can get caught molesting children and your employer actively silences the children and transfers you to a brand new batch of victims.

I agree.
This is why I wonder about the rico prosecution. I think it is the only way to root out this type of institutional corruption.

a reply to: Raggedyman

Let's hope the Catholic Church pass these crimes onto civil authority and justice is served

I agree

originally posted by: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk
a reply to: shooterbrody

If the Roman Catholic Church would pull their heads out of their backsides and allow their clergy to take mates like most other religions maybe this wouldn't be happening so much! Jesus said that it was better for a "priest" to remain celibate in order to better serve his God but he never said it was absolutely required!

I don't know..I feel like it takes a certain kind of person to molest children. I think these sick people would do it in any situation, married or not. I think people who do not molest children would remain not molesting children in other circumstances.

a reply to: Raggedyman

Let's hope the Catholic Church pass these crimes onto civil authority and justice is served

Question is, why has this appeared to be their choice for decades?

What other institution gets to cover up scandals of this magnitude time and time again before authorities say enough, and conduct an outside investigation?

originally posted by: shooterbrody
Will this scandal be enough to make a sitting pope step down?

www.yahoo.com...

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis has declined to comment on a claim that he ignored sexual abuse allegations against a senior clergyman amid speculation conservative elements in the Catholic hierarchy are using the issue to mount a "putsch" to remove the liberal pontiff.

It appears the pope is getting internal pressure on this issue now.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican envoy to the United States, on Saturday said he had told Francis of the allegations against prominent US cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 2013. But rather than punish McCarrick, who was forced to resign last month, Vigano said Francis had lifted sanctions imposed on him by his predecessor pope Benedict XVI. "Corruption has reached the very top of the Church's hierarchy," Vigano said in a letter published in the National Catholic Register and several conservative US Catholic publications.

Vigano claimed Francis asked him about McCarrick when he took office in June 2013, but that the pope ignored his warnings. He said the pope "knew from at least June 23, 2013, that McCarrick was a serial predator," adding that "he knew that he was a corrupt man, he covered for him to the bitter end".

This Theodore McCarrick appears to be a dastardly character.

www.vox.com...

Everybody in James’s family called him “Uncle Teddy.” Father Theodore McCarrick was a New Jersey priest, whose charisma and intelligence had already set him on a clear course to rise in the Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy. But to James, at age 11, whose story the New York Times reported last month (using only his first name), “Teddy” was a close family friend, an adviser, and a mentor. He was also, James said, the man who exposed himself to James for the first time when he was 11. The man, James said, who first molested him when he was 12. And the man, James said, who got him drunk, took him to a hotel room, and assaulted him when James was 15. According to the Times report, James attempted to tell his family of the persistent abuse, only to be met with denial and disbelief

But last month, Pope Francis accepted McCarrick’s resignation from the College of Cardinals over allegations that he had sexually harassed and abused minors and young seminarians over the past several decades. According to a statement released by the Vatican, McCarrick has been instructed to live out a “life of prayer and penance,” and will have to remain in seclusion pending an ecclesiastical trial.

These people need to be prosecuted like any other that sexually assaults a child would be. Why has no prosecutor pursued rico charges against this criminal institution?

He hasnt BEEN Pope for very long...it's his predessors who knew and kept quiet.

Question is how long (like forever!)...did all our Popes know and do nothing?

1,000 years? 500? 1,500 years of the papacy?

a reply to: shooterbrody

According to the Pope...

"I will not say a word about that. I think that the communique speaks for itself," Francis said on his plane as he flew back from Dublin to Rome.

If the letter of accusation speaks for itself, then the Pope must be agreeing that...

He said the pope "knew from at least June 23, 2013, that McCarrick was a serial predator," adding that "he knew that he was a corrupt man, he covered for him to the bitter end".

and...

In his letter, Vigano condemned the "culture of secrecy" in the Church but also railed against "the homosexual current" he claimed was prevalent in the highest echelons of the Vatican and contributing to a "conspiracy of silence" over abuse.

This tells me that the accusations are true and that the Pope admits that he's part of the "conspiracy of silence" by remaining silent.

a reply to: CriticalStinker

What other institution gets to cover up scandals of this magnitude time and time again before authorities say enough, and conduct an outside investigation?

The UK government is a pretty famous institution.

UK Cover-up of VIP Pedophile Ring Top Politicians Protected Pedophiles

Source
The US government is great at it too.


Pedophile coverups are pretty popular among the worlds elite "institutions".

originally posted by: SugarBom6

I don't know..I feel like it takes a certain kind of person to molest children. I think these sick people would do it in any situation, married or not. I think people who do not molest children would remain not molesting children in other circumstances.

I think you're right in a lot of cases, but consider this: If an old tom cat isn't fast enough to catch a breeding aged female cat if there are any kittens around that tom cat will rape every kitten he can get a hold of- sometimes raping them to death. They just can't suppress the natural urge to mate and will make do with what they have access to. Now consider these priests not being allowed to act on their natural urges with a full grown woman or man (they could talk and the priest could end up losing his collar). So what happens? Children (especially boys) seem to be constantly around them and are much less likely to talk- so it kind of makes them the "kittens" to the "tom cat" priests.

If priests were allowed to be openly sexually active (with a committed partner, of course) it COULD lessen the attacks on innocent children.

Its absolutely up to him

The politics of Vatican City takes place in an absolute elective monarchy, in which the head of the Roman Catholic Church takes power. The Pope exercises principal legislative, executive, and judicial power over the State of Vatican City (an entity distinct from the Holy See), which is a rare case of a non-hereditary monarchy.[51]

So if he says nothing , does nothing , then nothing will be said or done about it at all .

Pope silent on claims he is ignoring ; doesn't say enough , he, Francis/Bergoglio has gone to some lengths to defend molesters, fight law enforcement by other authorities and to disaffirm victims

There's so much homosexuality and pedophilia in the Catholic church that one can't reach the upper echelons unless a willing participant.

Without entering into the sexual scandal dispute that endangers to be a civil war within the biggest institution on earth, let me put my two cents here.

Pope Francis' reform is all but dead. He had good intentions when he was elected five years ago. He was elected with the mandate to reform the church and the curia, exactly as a compromise figure between conservative and liberal factions.

He failed for a number of reasons and opposing people.

At his advanced age of 81 he should think of retirement with dignity, even without the latest scandal...that is big enough though.

Instead of endless debates whether remarried couples should receive holy Communion and under what conditions, the 5,000 bishops should notice the majority of their flock live in poverty, and take much bigger actions. That poverty includes those families with many kids who follow strictly the family teachings of the church and who could be found virtually in all parishes in the developed world. Those are the people who did not sin and who suffer.

Today I read of yet another bishop who got 2 mln compound for his retirement...any shame? www.mercurynews.com...

The sexual scandal problem, as bad as it is, is not the everyday biggest problem of the common Catholics who go to church regularly. What was done For Them better than before? Or they were and are sacrificed for unknown purposes?

Including by not revealing the core issue of Fatima predictions made by Virgun Mary 101 years ago and proven authentic not only by many popes but by Heaven with the Sun miracle?

The reform should have included much wider personal changes not only in the curia but all over the spectrum. The increased number of Catholics in the world calls for an increased number of Cardinals. Let remember the Whole world was only 2.3 bln before WW2.... Why not laity Cardinals to control independently? Cardinalate is not a sacrament, lay people did serve as cardinals in history. What is waited for in the Vatican to make any substantial change?As we hear USCCB call for laity participation in the sex scandal investigation...

Francis did what he could for those five years. He said important things, but also he didn't go further than that.

It is a time for change. Benedict who spent decades in the Vatican before being elected pope, who was in the power structures, understood the need to step down with honor.

With major media openly talking of a coup in the church, it is the time for the elected ones to understand they are responsible. The common Catholics want the church to continue after them. Do the ones clothed in power want that too, while they quote the words of Jesus to Peter about the keys? or it is all about power, money and sex?

Empires have fallen. Yes the Church won't fall, but Jesus never did the structure and the rulings we encounter today. it is all historical. Admitted by pope Francis, who already put his legacy as the pope in 21st century who wanted to change things to better but who was stopped...

And if someone confront me that I do not talk on the topic...actually Francis DID PUNISH McCarrick, UNLIKE Benedict who did it SECRETLY. The problem is, Francis doesn't have strength to go beyond what he did. Far not only about the sex scandal. Let him remain as the good first jesuit pope in history...

I know this is a serious matter and all institutions need to be held accountable for this but this reminded me of an old comedy sketch of Blackadder. This is where Blackadder needed to pay off the Bishop for a service but he didn’t have the money. The Bishop was going to run him through with a hot poker because he couldn’t pay up. Since Blackadder was going to die the Bishop admitted all his horrible deeds to him.



Bishop Admissions:
1. Colossal pervert
2. No sexual depravity is too low for him...
3. Animal, vegetable, mineral, he’ll do anything to anything

What’s funny is that the Bishop takes a drink offered by Blackadder’s servant and he realizes he’s been drugged. The Bishop says, “Drugged by God!” Blackadder says, “No. By Baldrick but the effect is much the same.”

These priests that have molested children will be exposed and get their justice in the end. These religious institutions will be held accountable for hiding these terrible sins from the public. They think they can get away with it because they only answer to God. Beware religious leaders for God may be the one sending you the drugged drink.

a reply to: shooterbrody

I'm sure he is remaining quiet as he may expose himself,as the leader I'm sure he has plenty of skeletons in closet,and the church thinks it is no big deal

originally posted by: shooterbrody
a reply to: Krahzeef_Ukhar

Ouch, that is a scorching perspective. Perhaps not untrue but savage.

I really think the fact that the highest of the church don't believe in god is the only thing we can really take from all these scandals. The only people who claim to know the mind of god are either fooling the masses or fools themselves.

I don't believe for a second that the pope is a fool.