"Prelates and Pederasts"

That's the title of a searing article by Paul Rahe on the clergy child sex abuse crisis within the Catholic Church.  Here's an excerpt.

Benedict’s successor was Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina – the man who calls himself Pope Francis. As a Belgian cardinal named Gottfried Daneels – who had been removed as an archbishop because he had covered up pederasty on the part of another Belgian cardinal and had come out in support of contraception, divorce, gay marriage, euthanasia, and abortion – revealed in his memoirs, Bergoglio’s candidacy was promoted by the St. Gallen Group, a part of what Catholics call “the Lavender Mafia.” This disgraced figure stood on the balcony with Bergoglio after he was elected Pope; he was chosen to say the prayer at the new Pope’s inauguration; and there was joy in the ranks of those inclined to break the vow of celibacy.

If you want to get a sense of what such people thought, I suggest that you read “The Vatican’s Secret Life,” an article that appeared in Vanity Fair in December 2013. It is an eye-opener. Its author, Michael Joseph Gross, is not scandalized by what he found. He celebrates it; and, tellingly, he never once mentions, even under the guise of pedophilia, the propensity of prominent priests to indulge in pederasty.

. . .

Since his election, Pope Francis has done everything within his power to soften and subvert the Church’s teaching concerning human sexuality. He put the Lavender Mafia in charge of the two Synods on the Family held in 2014 and 2015. They tried to push through their agenda; and, when the assembled bishops balked, they got a tongue-lashing from the Pope, and he inserted in the final report without comment two paragraphs that had not received the requisite two-thirds vote. All of this – including the machinations of the St. Gallen Group and the role played by Cardinal Daneels – is laid out in detail by an English Catholic, who was in Rome during the early year of this papacy, and who writes under the pseudonym Marcantonio Colonna. The title is The Dictator Pope: The Inside Story of the Francis Papacy.

The Lavender Mafia controls the Papacy and the Vatican overall, and Pope Francis is packing the College of Cardinals, who will elect the next Pope, with sympathizers. Pope Francis and his minions have now been exposed, named, and shamed; and there will be a civil war within the Roman Catholic Church. Either Francis leaves and his supporters and clients are purged. Or the Church is conceded to those who for decades have sheltered and promoted the pederasts and those who regard their abuse of minors as a matter indifferent.

There's much more at the link.  Essential reading to understand the current crisis in the Catholic clergy.

All I can say is, if I had known about such goings-on, I would never have become a Catholic priest.  Furthermore, having seen only a small proportion of them, and witnessed the utter spinelessness and incompetence (not to mention moral evil) of the response of Catholic bishops to them, I could not remain a priest, as I've written before.

There are many Catholic clergy who argue that one should remain within the "system", to work for its reform from the inside.  My response is that it is simply not possible to reform it from inside, and from below.  Those in charge are given absolute authority over their areas of responsibility by Church teaching and by Canon Law.  Nobody else has any say.  Under such circumstances, nothing any subordinate can do will change things.  Furthermore, those currently holding the reins of power are the ones who will choose or approve new bishops - and does anyone really think they're going to approve those whose views are inimical to their own?

I fear that the Catholic Church, in its present form, cannot continue for very long.  There have been schisms in the history of the Church in the past.  I foresee another one, and a major one, because I don't think there's any other practical way to deal with so much institutional corruption.

Peter