Vatican Doubles Down on Inaction

 

Yesterday I wrote a post on how furious I am because the sex abuse crisis in the Church has hit very close to home with me and my family. And today we get this [fill in the blank].

What word is there to describe anger greater than fury?

President of U.S. Bishops’ Conference Issues Statement Following Meeting with Pope Francis

September 13, 2018
VATICAN CITY—Following a private audience with Pope Francis this morning in Vatican City, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued the following statement regarding the recent moral crisis in the American Catholic Church.

“We are grateful to the Holy Father for receiving us in audience. We shared with Pope Francis our situation in the United States — how the Body of Christ is lacerated by the evil of sexual abuse. He listened very deeply from the heart. It was a lengthy, fruitful, and good exchange.

As we departed the audience, we prayed the Angelus together for God’s mercy and strength as we work to heal the wounds. We look forward to actively continuing our discernment together identifying the most effective next steps.” (emphasis mine)

Unbelievable.

It requires discernment together to identify the most effective next steps?

You have got to be kidding me.

Let me help you boys out. How about looking at all the files Vigano mentioned. That would be a good first step. That is where the answers lay.

These men are pathetic.

.

Published in Religion & Philosophy
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There are 28 comments.

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  1. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    I will try to find the story in which the pope was quoted as saying he would not be distracted by the abuse scandal because he had “bigger issues” to address, including the environment and immigration. 

    • #1
  2. 9thDistrictNeighbor Member
    9thDistrictNeighbor
    @9thDistrictNeighbor

    Scott Wilmot: What word is there to describe anger greater than fury?

    Wrath comes to mind…which is what these men will experience when they are finished on this mortal coil.

    The photo reminded me of when we went to tour some parish schools in our area.  One of them is the largest elementary school in the Archdiocese.  The principal had a statue of Mary on her desk.  That is about as Catholic as it got.

    I don’t think they want to look at what Vigano referenced because they already know what is in it.

    • #2
  3. 9thDistrictNeighbor Member
    9thDistrictNeighbor
    @9thDistrictNeighbor

    Django (View Comment):

    I will try to find the story in which the pope was quoted as saying he would not be distracted by the abuse scandal because he had “bigger issues” to address, including the environment and immigration.

    That was Cupich from Chicago in an interview with the local NBC affiliate.

    The Pope has a bigger agenda,” Cardinal Cupich said. “He’s got to get on with other things, of talking about the environment and protecting migrants and carrying on the work of the church. We’re not going to go down a rabbit hole on this.”

    • #3
  4. Ekosj Member
    Ekosj
    @Ekosj

    “…actively continuing our discernment…”

    What the heck does that even mean?    I’m reminded of the “Endeavor to persevere” scene in The Outlaw Josey Wales.

    • #4
  5. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    9thDistrictNeighbor (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    I will try to find the story in which the pope was quoted as saying he would not be distracted by the abuse scandal because he had “bigger issues” to address, including the environment and immigration.

    That was Cupich from Chicago in an interview with the local NBC affiliate.

    The Pope has a bigger agenda,” Cardinal Cupich said. “He’s got to get on with other things, of talking about the environment and protecting migrants and carrying on the work of the church. We’re not going to go down a rabbit hole on this.”

    I read it at this link: https://pjmedia.com/trending/cardinal-defends-pope-he-has-a-bigger-agenda-the-environment-protecting-migrants/

    These people are disgusting. 

    • #5
  6. AchillesLastand Member
    AchillesLastand
    @

    Words escape me.

    What in the wide wide world of sports are these “men” smiling, joking, and laughing about?

    I have just typed, then deleted, about a dozen sentences…best not dwell on what they were…

    • #6
  7. Aaron Miller Inactive
    Aaron Miller
    @AaronMiller

    The picture is bad PR. But that they didn’t immediately come out of the meeting with a directive is neither surprising nor remarkable.

    The problems are decades in the making. The solutions can be carefully considered for a few weeks. We don’t know yet what action or inaction will result.

    • #7
  8. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    With this pathetic statement, this incredibly tin-eared related photo op and now the story at OnePeterFive on Cardinal DiNardo, I remove all personal benefit of the doubt for these so-called leaders to do the right thing and cleanse Christ’s Church of its filth. I hope and pray that everyone in that picture eventually resigns their clerical posts and is relegated to a quiet life of prayer in penance for what they have allowed to be perpetrated in His Church, without launching the required cleansing themselves before now.

    And I also know that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. The Catholic Church will survive this in spite of its flawed human shepherds.

    • #8
  9. Liver Pate Inactive
    Liver Pate
    @Pseudodionysius

    Happy Feast Day!

    • #9
  10. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    This article at National Review on the Catholic Crisis makes many good observations about the ‘civil war’ within the Church. “Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI v Pope Francis. However you want to define the “teams”, it is between those who want to cleanse the temple of this secular, non-spiritually based politically correct worldview filth (homosexuality is most certainly the problem, duh), and those who want to talk, discern, listen deeply, make meaningless statements and try to run out the clock on leaving the status quo as is.

     

    • #10
  11. John Seymour Member
    John Seymour
    @

    Django (View Comment):

    I will try to find the story in which the pope was quoted as saying he would not be distracted by the abuse scandal because he had “bigger issues” to address, including the environment and immigration.

    That was Cupich, Cardinal Archbishop of Sodom Chicago.

    • #11
  12. Scott Wilmot Member
    Scott Wilmot
    @ScottWilmot

    And another one doubles down on stupid.

    For crying out loud guys – think before you speak. This is just mind-boggling that he would say this. But I guess it is good to know where he stands. He also needs to go  – obviously.

    • #12
  13. John Seymour Member
    John Seymour
    @

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    And another one doubles down on stupid.

    For crying out loud guys – think before you speak. This is just mind-boggling that he would say this. But I guess it is good to know where he stands. He also needs to go – obviously.

    “Reform.”  You keep using that word, Cardinal.  I do not think it means what you think it means.

    • #13
  14. Scott Wilmot Member
    Scott Wilmot
    @ScottWilmot

    I think this is a new liturgical response to this news: Holy Crap:

    The motto of the Lavender Mafia: The Theology of Tenderness

    • #14
  15. Scott Wilmot Member
    Scott Wilmot
    @ScottWilmot

    All Roads Lead to Washington D.C.

    This is quite an interesting summary of where we stand to date re this scandal.

    • #15
  16. Liver Pate Inactive
    Liver Pate
    @Pseudodionysius

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    And another one doubles down on stupid.

    For crying out loud guys – think before you speak. This is just mind-boggling that he would say this. But I guess it is good to know where he stands. He also needs to go – obviously.

    There’s a well established process of who gets selected for promotions – you’ll notice the Pontifical North American College in Rome is on Cardinal Dolan’s resume. These fellows aren’t chosen for their smarts.

    • #16
  17. John Seymour Member
    John Seymour
    @

    Liver Pate (View Comment):

    Happy Feast Day!

    Where are our Chrysostoms?  Where are our Augustines? A half dozen of these guys could clean the mess in Rome.  Maybe just one, in the right place.

    • #17
  18. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    John Seymour (View Comment):
    Where are our Chrysostoms? Where are our Augustines? A half dozen of these guys could clean the mess in Rome. Maybe just one, in the right place.

    Chrysostom was not successful in his own day.  He kept running afoul of the emperor and died on the way to his final exile.

    Augustine was watching the Vandals ransack and take over Carthage.

    Sometimes the best and brightest are there to illumine the darkness.

    • #18
  19. toggle Inactive
    toggle
    @toggle

     

     

    Need a place to stay for your vacation vocation ?

     

     

    • #19
  20. John Seymour Member
    John Seymour
    @

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    John Seymour (View Comment):
    Where are our Chrysostoms? Where are our Augustines? A half dozen of these guys could clean the mess in Rome. Maybe just one, in the right place.

    Chrysostom was not successful in his own day. He kept running afoul of the emperor and died on the way to his final exile.

    Augustine was watching the Vandals ransack and take over Carthage.

    Sometimes the best and brightest are there to illumine the darkness.

    Yes, Yesterday was  the memorial feast of Chrysostom in the Catholic Church and a portion of his farewell homily was the second reading for the Hour of Readings.  His enemies included the emperor’s wife and other bishops, but he refused to stop preaching against the abuses of the wealthy. He walked the walk all the way to his death.  I don’t know how else you define success in Christianity.

    • #20
  21. Aaron Miller Inactive
    Aaron Miller
    @AaronMiller

    I have not been a fan of Cardinal Dolan since he casually dismissed opposition to illegal immigration as xenophobia. It showed a surprising lack of charity.

    • #21
  22. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

     

    I hope this is not true. 

    • #22
  23. Scott Wilmot Member
    Scott Wilmot
    @ScottWilmot

    The Archbishop of New York said that his own mother is “embarrassed to be Catholic.”

    Dolan made the comments to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in a Sept. 13 interview. He said that his mother, who lives in an assisted-living home, told him that people knew her son was a priest and that she was ashamed of the scandals. 

    “If you don’t think that’s wrenching, I tell you, it’s awful. This summer has been anything but a church picnic for us. It’s been a disaster–one crisis after another,” he said.

    And this is the same man who says he hopes Wuerl stays in his job in DC because he is a great reformer.

    This goes from one stupid, tone-deaf comment, to another.

    Maybe the Pope was right – just shut your mouths boys and take action.

    No more interviews or statements or policies or procedures.

    ACTION.

    Please.

    • #23
  24. John Seymour Member
    John Seymour
    @

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    The Archbishop of New York said that his own mother is “embarrassed to be Catholic.”

    Dolan made the comments to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in a Sept. 13 interview. He said that his mother, who lives in an assisted-living home, told him that people knew her son was a priest and that she was ashamed of the scandals.

    “If you don’t think that’s wrenching, I tell you, it’s awful. This summer has been anything but a church picnic for us. It’s been a disaster–one crisis after another,” he said.

    And this is the same man who says he hopes Wuerl stays in his job in DC because he is a great reformer.

    This goes from one stupid, tone-deaf comment, to another.

    Maybe the Pope was right – just shut your mouths boys and take action.

    No more interviews or statements or policies or procedures.

    ACTION.

    Please.

    Except that with men this bone-headed does one really have any hope that they would take appropriate action?  It’s sorta like how I hope every tainted bishop will retire; except that Francis is the one appointing the replacements.  Seems like a lose-lose to me.

    • #24
  25. Scott Wilmot Member
    Scott Wilmot
    @ScottWilmot

    Eye of the Tiber (the Catholic Onion) perhaps is starting to report real news:

    Pope Francis Leads Summit On How To Pretend The Church Is Doing Something About The Abuse Scandal

    Pope Francis has called the presidents from bishops conferences around the world for a February summit to discuss how to better look like they are doing something about preventing clergy sex abuse.

    The summit of the presidents signals a realization that the laity do not believe that those in the highest levels of the Church are doing anything to combat clergy sex abuse.

    “We are faced with a grave situation in the Church today,” Pope Francis said in a letter to bishops. “People do not believe us. This is bad—very, very bad. We must come together in a spirit of brotherhood to discuss different ways and tactics that we can begin to implement so that we may better shift blame away from the Church. And with this, we will better be able to go on doing nothing.”

    Pope Francis went on to write, asking all those attending the summit to each come up with two or three different ideas that he can use when the pressure from the laity and journalists get to him.

    “I will give you an example,” he wrote. “A couple weeks ago there was much pressure on me to answer questions about the Vigano claim. I simply began to talk about plastic straws and voilà, the pressure was off of me for at least a day. If we can all have a number of these misdirection at our disposal, it will be better than having to come up with something off-the-cuff, or worse yet, actually answering the questions, God forbid.”

    The summit has already been called a “wild success” by many inside the Vatican, though it has yet to take place.

    “It was a success from the moment the Pope called for it,” one insider told EOTT. “Remember, it’s not what happens during the summit, but the fact that he called one that matters. People will look and say, ‘finally, they are doing something.’”

    • #25
  26. Sisyphus Member
    Sisyphus
    @Sisyphus

    Meanwhile…

    ROME (ChurchMilitant.com) – The Vatican is reeling from news that the 300-page dossier containing names of members of the gay lobby — a dossier some believe led to Pope Benedict’s resignation in 2013 — has been leaked to the media.

    Il Fatto Quotidiano, an Italian journal read by Vatican officials, is confirming it has seen the 300-page dossier. “The report contains a detailed and disturbing picture of the moral and material corruption of the clergy, with names, surnames and circumstances,” writes Francesca Fagnani.

    We are … able to view a document on papal letterhead included in the investigation, and here we publish an excerpt: It is a list of prelates and laymen who belong to the so-called gay lobby, which through blackmail and secrets could affect, or have conditioned, positions and careers (theirs, like those of others).

    We will not reveal the names shown in the list, but we can confirm that among the names there are people removed by the Pope, others moved from office, others who still hold important positions in strategic organs for the Vatican, such as Propaganda Fide and even the Secretariat of State.

    Among those implicated in the dossier is none other than Cdl. Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, who has repeatedly claimed he knew nothing of former housemate Abp. Theodore McCarrick’s homosexual predation, although they lived together on the same floor of the same house for six years in Washington, D.C. 

     

    • #26
  27. ToryWarWriter Coolidge
    ToryWarWriter
    @ToryWarWriter

    Never been more glad to be an Anglican.

    • #27
  28. John Seymour Member
    John Seymour
    @

    Sisyphus (View Comment):

    Meanwhile…

    ROME (ChurchMilitant.com) – The Vatican is reeling from news that the 300-page dossier containing names of members of the gay lobby — a dossier some believe led to Pope Benedict’s resignation in 2013 — has been leaked to the media.

    Il Fatto Quotidiano, an Italian journal read by Vatican officials, is confirming it has seen the 300-page dossier. “The report contains a detailed and disturbing picture of the moral and material corruption of the clergy, with names, surnames and circumstances,” writes Francesca Fagnani.

    We are … able to view a document on papal letterhead included in the investigation, and here we publish an excerpt: It is a list of prelates and laymen who belong to the so-called gay lobby, which through blackmail and secrets could affect, or have conditioned, positions and careers (theirs, like those of others).

    We will not reveal the names shown in the list, but we can confirm that among the names there are people removed by the Pope, others moved from office, others who still hold important positions in strategic organs for the Vatican, such as Propaganda Fide and even the Secretariat of State.

    Among those implicated in the dossier is none other than Cdl. Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, who has repeatedly claimed he knew nothing of former housemate Abp. Theodore McCarrick’s homosexual predation, although they lived together on the same floor of the same house for six years in Washington, D.C.

    There is something strange about that report – we have it, we have the names, but we won’t report them?  Who are they threatening.  I am sick of all these games – if they have it they should publish the whole darn thing.  Get it into the open.  If Farrell is on it (doesn’t surprise anyone), fine.  Whoever is on it, left, right or center, fire them all.  Replace them with a bunch of recent seminary graduates.  Hard to see how they could do any worse.

    • #28
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