Dear Editor: Following the release of an 11-page letter by the Vatican’s former nuncio to the United States, the Bishop of Tyler Texas said he found the allegations against the Pope and other senior cardinals and individuals (officials) to be “credible,” and called for a “thorough investigation.”
Bishop Joseph E. Strickland told his priests to “include this notice in the masses on August 26, and post it on their websites and other social media” with immediate urgency. The letter by Archbishop Vigano states that Pope Francis knew about sexual misconduct allegations against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
I truly find it mind-boggling, obnoxious and ludicrous (albeit even quite blatantly delusional) that any Bishop would mandate his priests to carry out such a directive with their perspective congregations considering the letter by Archbishop Vigano calls for the resignation of the Holy Father! I would sincerely believe that this is a time when all Catholics of good will need to ardently support and likewise be grateful for the authentic, merciful, vibrant spiritual leadership of Pope Francis and not rally to trash him or engage in a coup of sorts to bring him down.
Recently, a most welcomed, brilliant and impassioned statement was written by the President of Ave Maria University, Jim Towey:
“There is nothing new about the rift between Pope Francis and some members of the Church hierarchy. The battle lines seemed to have formed five years ago shortly after the Pope ascended to the chair of Saint Peter. In 2013 in his first major publication, The Joy of the Gospel, the Pope described confreres who ‘ultimately trust only in their own powers and feel superior to others because they observe certain rules or remain intransigently faithful to a particular Catholic style.’ Recently he quoted these same words in a letter to the faithful, Rejoice and Be Glad, and described ‘false prophets who use religion for their own purposes, to promote their own psychological or intellectual theories. God infinitely transcends us; he is full of surprises.’
“Yes, God is full of surprises. But the call for the Pope’s resignation by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano’ is not one of them.
“At a time when the Church is roiled by scandal occasioned by so many within the hierarchy who failed us, personal attacks against the Vicar of Christ and calls for his resignation are wildly divisive and patently wrong. Those so-called conservative Catholics who now challenge the Holy Father’s legitimate authority and openly undermine his papacy, are betraying their own principles and hurting the Church they profess to love. They should stop now.”
FATHER FRANK MANN
Bushwick
Fr. Frank Mann in his letter to the editor castigates Archbishop Vigano for his letter on the crisis facing the Church and Bishop Joseph E. Strickland for backing him up. He goes on to “call on all of good will … to ardently support and likewise be grateful for the authentic, merciful, vibrant spiritual leadership of Pope Francis.”
My own take on the matter is that Archbishop Viganò is to be greatly applauded for his courage and likewise Bishop Strickland and the other bishops that have come to Viganò’s defense and to that of Holy Mother the Church. None of these men have anything to gain and much to lose by the stances they have taken.
I pray for Our Holy Father at every Mass but I do not have blinders on. “Authentic, merciful, vibrant spiritual leadership” is the very opposite of of how I would characterize Pope Francis’ papacy. His actions belie that.