Chris Williamson
The Pope’s credibility is under increasing attack as pressure mounts on him to resign from his post as head of the Catholic Church.
An 11-page “testimony” released to conservative Catholic media by Vigano accusing Pope Francis of ignoring his warnings about Archbishop Theodore McCarrick is doing damage to the credibility of the respected Pope. The revelation sheds new light on the scale of the cover up that has gone on in the Catholic Church unchallenged.
McCarrick eventually resigned from the College of Cardinals last month after accusations that he molested an altar boy and seminarians. Vigano’s revelation that the Pope had earlier lifted restrictions on McCarrick put in place by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI who resigned in 2015, is troubling. The world media ants to know why, Pope Francis says he won’t say a word in response to these claims or calls for his resignation.
“In this extremely dramatic moment for the universal Church,” Vigano wrote, “he[the Pope] must acknowledge his mistakes and, in keeping with the proclaimed principle of zero tolerance, Pope Francis must be the first to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarrick’s abuses and resign along with all of them.”
Pope Francis and his Global Catholic church are battling the global sexual abuse crisis spread from Australia to Pennsylvania, and which has been occurring for decades in various parts of the world. Experts believe there are many more of such sexual abuses still not uncovered and which will be concealed for many years to come. The Pope repeated apologies last weekend for the sins and crimes of church leaders as done little to quench the intense anger and horror at the sexual abuses of epic proportions that is crippling the reputation of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis said “some members of the hierarchy didn’t own up to these painful situations and kept silent,” but the new allegations that he himself may have played a disturbing role in not punishing or exposing individuals believed to have been responsible for serious sexual abuses takes the whole issue to a new dimension.
“I will not say a single word about this,” he said. “I believe the statement speaks for itself. And you have the sufficient journalistic ability to make your conclusions. It’s an act of trust.” Many Catholics who are staunch followers of the Catholic faith want to see Pope Francis gone as a result of this hugely embarrassing scandal. Liberal Catholics accuse the archbishop of launching a coup d’etat against his boss.
“This is a coup operation against Pope Francis,” Massimo Faggioli- a professor of Catholic history and theology at Villanova University in Pennsylvania-told reporters bent on getting some answers.
“It is a stunning convergence between the personal agenda of Vigano and the theological agenda of those who do not like Pope Francis.”
Pope Francis has always been perceived to be godly and honourable leader of the Catholic faith, but the attack on his integrity is not one eithe rhe or the world could have been prepared for