"When the facts and law are on your side, you pound those; and when they aren’t, you pound the table instead."

Professor Ed Feser has a very comprehensive post which offers the obvious reason behind Francis's indefensible (and unaccustomed) silence. Excerpt, but read the whole thing:

Why Archbishop Viganò is almost certainly telling the truth

There are five considerations that seem to me to make it very likely that Archbishop Viganò’s testimony is truthful. To be sure, given how numerous and detailed are the claims he makes, it would not be surprising if he has gotten certain particulars wrong. And perhaps in his passion he has inadvertently overstated things here and there. But the main claims are probably true. I certainly do not believe he is lying. The reasons are these:

1. The deafening silence of Pope Francis

Pope Francis has been accused of grave offenses by a churchman of high stature who was in an optimal position to know about the matters in question. Yet he has refused to deny the charges or to comment on the matter at all. That is simply not the way one would expect a person to act if such charges against him were false. You would expect him immediately, clearly, and vigorously to deny the charges.

Some of his defenders suggest that the pope is merely exhibiting a Christ-like lack of concern for his own reputation. He is not defending himself, so the claim goes, any more than Christ defended himself against those who crucified him. Yet the pope has defended himself in other contexts. For example, he has defended himself against the accusation that he is a communist and against charges that he failed to speak out forcefully enough during Argentina’s “dirty war.” After he was criticized by some on the Left for meeting with Kim Davis in 2015, the Vatican issued a statement asserting that “his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects.” In 2016, the pope defended himself against criticism of his refusal to associate Islam with violence. In 2017, he defended himself against criticism of his comparison of migrant camps to concentration camps.

So, the thesis that the pope prefers to “turn the other cheek” rather than answer critics simply doesn’t withstand scrutiny. He does answer them, sometimes. Why, then, would he not defend himself against the far more serious charges now at issue, leveled by an accuser far more eminent than some of the critics the pope has answered in the past?

Furthermore, it is not merely the pope’s own reputation that is at stake. The good of the Church is at stake. There is, as people on both sides of the controversy have noted, a kind of “civil war” brewing in the Church. The pope could help prevent that if he would only respond to the archbishop’s charges. Yet he has not done so....

As the old lawyer’s saw has it, when the facts and law are on your side, you pound those; and when they aren’t, you pound the table instead.

Again, read the whole thing.

Salesian Cardinal overseeing destruction of Honduran church says Viganò “hurting faith”

LifeSiteNews reports:

Cardinal Maradiaga rebukes papal critics: McCarrick abuse scandal ‘of a private order’

The scandal of ex-Cardinal McCarrick’s homosexual abuse of young priests and seminarians and Pope Francis’ alleged cover-up are “of a private order,” and a merely “administrative affair,” according to one of the Pope’s top advisers, Cardinal Andrés Rodriguez Maradiaga. He made these remarks in a recent interview in one of the most revealing statements to date on the Viganò testimony.

In an interview published on Wednesday evening by Religion Digital, the religious portal of the Spanish-language news site Periodista Digital, Maradiaga once again strongly criticized Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò for having gone public about McCarrick’s sexual predations and the protection the Cardinal received from the highest spheres in the Vatican, especially since Pope Francis was elected to the See of Peter and trusted the American prelate to help him choose new cardinals for the Church in the USA.

Asked to comment about Viganò’s call on the Pope to resign, Maradiaga answered:

It does not seem correct to me to transform something that is of the private order into bombshell headlines exploding all over the world and whose shrapnel is hurting the faith of many. I think this case of an administrative nature should have been made public in accordance with more serene and objective criteria, not with the negative charge of deeply bitter expressions.

Leave aside, just for the moment, just for the moment!--that Maradaiga is part of the worst cover-up in the Catholic Church in living memory. Leave aside--just for the moment!--that when his good seminarians complained about rampant sodomy and sodomy-enabling behavior at their seminary, he attacked them as "gossipers."

Leave that aside for now, and just look what has happened to the Honduran Catholic Church during the time Maradiaga has been in charge. We've reported on this before. In 2014 the Pew Organization did a major study on the religious demography in Latin America. Pew reported:

“the period between 1970 and 2014 is marked by significant declines in the percentages of Catholics in nearly all of the (Latin American) countries surveyed – ranging from a 47-point drop in Honduras to a 5-point decrease in Paraguay."

Get that? "a 47-point drop."  Since 1970, Catholics have fallen from 94% to 46% of the population of Honduras. Maradiaga has been a bishop in Tegucigalpa, Honduras' capitol, since 1978, and the Archbishop of Tegucigalpa and hence the Metropolitan of the whole country since 1993--25 years. Now he professes to believe that Archbishop Viganò's telling the truth "is hurting the faith of many."

"Priest describes ‘cesspools’ of homosexual immorality in German dioceses"

The horrific testimony, excerpted from LifeSiteNews, shows why those of us here in San Francisco and the surrounding dioceses give thanks to God for Archbishop Cordileone, and the Rector of St. Patrick's Seminary, Fr. George Schultze, SJ--a TRUE Son of St. Ignatius.

Priest describes ‘cesspools’ of homosexual immorality in German dioceses

A German priest has released what he calls an "eyewitness account" of "cesspools" of homosexual immorality in an unnamed German diocese.

The priest, Father N., has remained anonymous in order to avoid repercussions.

He tells of his troubles of getting into the seminary because of the vocation's director being a homosexual. This director later left the priesthood to live with another man.

That a priest of God has to keep silent in order to "avoid repercussions" stemming from his exposure of sodomy in the Church of God tells you exactly how pervasive, powerful, and catastrophic the homosexual infiltration has become. Let the wrath of God come!

To support a GOOD seminary, our own St. Patrick's, go here. And their Gala fundraiser is in two weeks!

Bishops Call for Cancelling of Youth Synod "NO to business as usual."

Dead right. Shouldn't have young people anywhere near those creeps.

A Texas bishop has called for the Youth Synod to be canceled in light of the ongoing scandal regarding the cover-up of episcopal sexual abuse of minors and seminarians.

On September 8, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler Texas tweeted his support for other bishops who share this point of view.

“I support Archbishop Charles Chaput, Bishop Edward Burns & other bishops who have called for the Synod on Youth to be cancelled & replaced with an Extraordinary Synod of Bishops to deal with the abuse crisis in the Church,” he wrote. “This crisis must be addressed!!! NO to business as usual.”

"There is an intentional and malicious infiltration of the Church for the purpose of destroying her from within"

More than 10 years ago we documented this exact thing in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The very first sentence on sanfrancisco-catholic.com reads: "This is a report on the infiltration of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco by homosexual activists."

 

From LifeSiteNews:

The following is the transcription of the August 19, 2018 homily gi:ven at the Church of St. Raphael in Crystal, Minnesota by Fr. Robert Altier:

‘Predatory’ gays have infiltrated Church, trying to ‘destroy’ her: priest on abuse crisis

In the second reading today St. Paul tells us that we have to make the most of our opportunity because the days are evil. We aren't just simply living in days that are evil, we are living in the days that Isaiah spoke about, the days when they will call evil good and good evil. And we have been brainwashed into thinking that evil things are okay, they're not.

So, from this point forward, what I am about to say is completely politically incorrect and if you have young ears that you don't want to hear it, you may want to take a fifteen-minute walk....

Read the whole thing. 

Even Leftist Commentary Magazine says: "That is unwise...the truth is more important."

Even the modernist Commentary magazine. I remember that my dad, who never went to Church, had a subscription to Commentary back in the 1960's.

Viganò’s ‘Testimony’

When he was first asked about Viganò’s charges during an in-flight press conference on his way back to the Vatican from Ireland, he replied, “I will not say a single word on this.” And he hasn’t. That is unwise. However dubious or questionable Viganò’s charges, Francis should respond to them directly, especially given that a number of the claims refer to private conversations between the two men. If Francis did not know about Benedict’s request that McCarrick should keep a low profile, he should say so. If he is afraid of implicating his two predecessors, who promoted McCarrick and allowed him to continue in public ministry, he shouldn’t be. The truth is more important. As the church once again reckons with its leaders’ failures to confront and punish abusers, the faithful deserve answers.

"For some of these people, cleaning up sexual abuse...not as important as protecting the advancement of homosexuality"

Rod Dreher writes in the American Conservative:

The Hypocrisy of Pope Francis's Silence

Vigano is not some disgruntled low-level official. He is a high-level curial figure, and as the papal nuncio to the US, was in a position to know about McCarrick and the way Rome dealt with him. Vigano’s accusations may be wrong, but they cannot be dismissed. The idea that Francis’s silence in the face of these damning allegations is a sign of his holiness is the kind of thing you’d have to be a numbskull to believe. And Austen Ivereigh is not remotely a numbskull.

It is sadly apparent that for some of these people, cleaning up sexual abuse and related corruption in the Roman Catholic Church is not as important as protecting the advancement of homosexuality and other progressive priorities.

"What are you doing to solve the problem of homosexuality and other immoral behavior in the priesthood?"

Bob Sullivan writes in Crisis magazine:

I’m really only interested in hearing one of two things from any bishop because until we resolve the problem of sexual immorality within the priesthood (including the hierarchy), the Church is locked in a holding pattern: We cannot effectively evangelize our children or those outside the Church. We cannot effectively serve those in need. We cannot effectively make disciples within the Church. We need to try, but we are trying with one hand tied behind our back. Here are the two questions which must be answered every day by each bishop:

What are you doing to solve the problem of homosexuality and other immoral behavior in the priesthood?

When are you going to resign?

If we see evidence to the first question, we do not need to ask the second question.

AMEN: "Something must be done now."

A very powerful letter from His Excellency Robert E. Guglielmone, Bishop of Charleston, to the Apostolic Nuncio. Excerpt:

Dear Archbishop Pierre,

Our Church is in crisis and as the leader of the Catholic faithful in the State of South Carolina, I write with urgency to express my sentiments and echo those of the people in my care. We feel betrayed, angry and misled.

Something must be done now. I have several recommendations that support the statement from Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is imperative that the Holy See take a leadership role in investigating the rise of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, despite the reported knowledge of his prior sexual misconduct and monetary settlements during his earlier diocesan assignments. It is absolutely necessary for all of us to know how and why this happened. Action must occur immediately and publicly....

Read the whole thing.

He Speaks! To a bunch of Italian bikers.....

Addressing the important issues, I see. Reported yesterday on the Vatican's website.

I am pleased to welcome you, representing the bikers who will take part in the next Gran Premio Octo di San Marino and the Rimini Riviera. I greet you all with affection: managers, riders and technicians, and I thank you for this visit. I especially greet the President of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, and I thank him for his words.

Your presence gives me the opportunity to underline the importance of sport in today’s society. The Church considers sporting activity, practiced with full respect of the rules, as a valid educational tool especially for the younger generations; indeed, it is indispensable. The phenomenon of sport, in fact, stimulates a healthy overcoming of oneself and of selfishness, trains the spirit of sacrifice and, if well practiced, inspires loyalty in interpersonal relationships, friendship, and respect for the rules.

It is important that those involved in sports, at various levels, promote those human and Christian values that underlie a more just and supportive society. This is possible because the sporting event is expressed in a universal language that transcends borders, languages, races, religions and ideologies. This is seen above all in amateur sport, which comes from the heart. Therefore, it possesses the intrinsic capacity to unite people, fostering dialogue and acceptance.

I encourage you to spread the values of sport: in this way you will contribute to building a more just and supportive society. And I would like to focus on two words that the president said. One is “passion”: when I read the news about suicide among young people – and there are many – but what happened there? At least I can say that in that life “passion” was lacking, someone did not know how to sow the passions to live. And then difficulties were not faced with this passion. Spread passion: this world needs passions, passion. Live with passion, and not like someone who bears life like a burden. Passion is moving forward. And the second phrase is: “champion of life”. Yes, one can become a champion in sporting success, a champion of a team, and so on ... But “champion of life” is someone who lives with passion; one who lives with fullness is able to live like this. “Passion” and “champion of life”: two beautiful phrases.

With these wishes, while I assure you and your families a remembrance in prayer, I willingly invoke upon you the Lord’s Blessing.

"What’s the worst part of Pope Francis’ response to the exposure of clerical sex abuse and cover-ups?"

That's the question John Zmirak asks, and answers, at Rorate Caeli.

"The Innocence of Serpents": Francis' Silence is not Jesus' Silence

What’s the worst part of Pope Francis’ response to the exposure of clerical sex abuse and cover-ups?

You might say, “Where to begin?” and point to a dozen different facets of the corruption of the priesthood by our bishops.

The list of scandals against supernatural faith and natural justicecould fill up thousands of words. Others such as Paul Rahe and Benjamin Wiker have done yeoman’s work unpacking it all. I don’t need to add very much. Let me just mention one point which offends me to the core.

Not just as a Catholic. Or even as a Christian. If I were a mere agnostic, it still would turn my stomach.

And that’s the claim made by Pope Francis’ defenders that in refusing to answer Abp. Vigano’s charges, the pope is acting like Jesus, when He was hauled up before Herod:

And Herod, seeing Jesus, was very glad; for he was desirous of a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things of Him; and he hoped to see some sign wrought by Him. And he questioned Him in many words. But He answered him nothing. (Luke 23: 8-9)

Quite a potent tactic. It’s a way of painting stonewalling as an imitation of Christ. Father Marcial Maciel used this stratagem, and for a long while it worked. As one accuser came forth after another, he smothered their claims in silence. That gave his monied cronies and guilty enablers a high-minded pretext to hide behind, as many did, for years.

In fact, it’s the starkest blasphemy.

Even fair-minded unbelievers ought to be outraged, if they see Jesus for what He was: an innocent man, hunted to His death by political enemies. To seize on Jesus’ innocence, and His dignified refusal to answer the corrupt tyrant Herod, who would have set Him free in return for some petty miracle … and weaponize it on behalf of a ruler’s arrogant silence…. That is repulsive, on a purely human level. It’s like smooshing together Anne Frank and Josef Goebbels as “casualties of the Second World War.”

Too much you say? Isn’t it equally possible that Pope Francis indeed is innocent, at least of the charge that he knew about and repealed Benedict’s (feeble) sanctions against McCarrick? And did so in return for McCarrick’s support at the Conclave?

We may never know. The documents which prove Vigano’s testimony are under the pope’s control. Unless he’s already ordered that they be shredded, they sit in archives in Rome and in Washington, D.C. at the nunciature. Journalists should be demanding them.

A U.S. attorney ought to subpoena these files, to see if U.S. bishops violated RICO laws by shuffling sex abusers. The Church ought to have to hand them over, waiving its frail diplomatic immunity as the price of ongoing relations with the United States of America. I don’t know if that will happen. My colleague Austin Ruse has called on President Trump to demand it. All that is politics. Who knows how it will play out?

But we do know the following facts.

The pope lives in a house (Casa Santa Marta) managed by a priest who consorted with male prostitutes. Francis was backed for the papacy by molester Cardinal McCarrick and coverup artist-cardinals Danneels and Wuerl. He plucked Danneels from disgrace under Benedict XVI, inviting Danneels to join him when he first addressed Roman crowds, and asking him to speak (at the Synod on the Family) to the bishops of the world. Pope Francis has previously lifted penalties on at least one powerful molester in the mold of McCarrick.

Francis defied cries of victims, and elevated a bishop in Chile who’d actively covered for a molester. When the pope’s mockery of the victims blew up in the press, he blamed the local bishops and called one victim to Rome. Then he told the young man that God (not the priest who molested him) had “made him gay.”

Think of all this. Think then of Father Maciel.

And think of the innocence of Jesus

Two of Uncle Ted's, oops, Uncle Blaise's Boys Caught Committing Sodomy

Sorry, hard to keep these creeps straight.

Chicago's CBS affiliate has the whole disgusting story.

Two priests from northwest suburban Arlington Heights were arrested in Miami Beach on Monday after allegedly engaging in a sex act inside a parked vehicle.

The priests, Diego L. Berrio, 39; and Edwin M. Cortez, 30, both reside at San Juan Diego Mission on the 2300 block of North Wilke Road.

According to arrest reports from the Miami Beach Police Department, someone called police after seeing two men engaged in oral sex inside of a black Volkswagen parked on the 1300 block of Ocean Drive at 3:20 p.m. on Labor Day.