The 'downfall' of Pope Francis’s closest cardinals
by Maike Hickson
May 7, 2018
The decomposition of Pope Francis’ reign continues. In light of what Onepeterfive has shown in the recent past concerning three of Pope Francis’s closest advisers – Cardinals Maradiaga, Errazuriz, and Marx – it might be of interest that now one of the most prominent Swiss newspapers,
Der Tages-Anzeiger, joins the discussion with an article entitled “Downfall of the Cardinals”.
The author of the article, Michael Meier, the newspapers’ religion expert, picks up some of these cases that we have recently discussed, and he says that, after the “enthusiastically” welcomed beginning of the pope’s curial reform, “some of his closest papal advisors have come under pressure and threaten to perish in a whirlwind of abuse scandals.”
“Looking back, Francis did not have a good hand in his decisions concerning cardinals,” Meier adds.
“In spite of his zero tolerance policy toward pedophilic clergymen, he himself seems to spare his own people according to an old pattern.”
Meier deals with three cardinals, all of whom are members of the Council of Nine Cardinals, who are called to help the pope with his reform: Cardinals George Pell, Francisco Errazuriz, and Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga.
[Why did he exclude Marx, who is perhaps the most egregious transgressor of all, since his transgressions are not personal but ecclesial! And of course, in the case of Pell, he will now be tried in Australia, but like Errazuriz and Maradiaga, who have yet to face any charges at all, formal or otherwise, he must be considered innocent until proven guilty]
In the case of Australian Cardinal Pell and his pending trial in Melbourne for having been too lenient toward clerical abusers under his authority and of having himself violated himself one boy, Meier says that, while Pell insists upon his innocence, Pope Francis already knew of these charges when calling Pell into the C9 Council.
[But the charges against Pell have long been known, and though not formalized at the time, it was the reason Benedict XVI withdrew his pending nomination to head the Congregation for Bishops back in 2010. On this pope's advisory council, he represents Australia and Oceania, of which region he has been the most eminent prelate for the past two decades, with a sterling record tainted for the first time in 2009 by complaints dating back to three decades earlier from a couple of accusers. Of course, this pope knew about the charges and probably - and rightly - did not think them serious enough to keep him from naming Pell not just to be on his advisory council but to head the new Secretariat for the Economy, positions which are not as vulnerable to sex-abuse accusations as Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. ]
Meier then touches upon the case of the Chilean Cardinal Francisco Errazuriz who has been accused by three abuse victims of having given the pope false information about responsible clergymen in Chile and of having blocked the juridical prosecution of the abusing priest, Father Fernando Karadima.
[These victims have been saying this for years, and had a chance finally to say it to the pope himself when he met with them last week.]
While Pope Francis now has apologized for his initial rebuke of these abuse victims, Meier says “One nevertheless has the impression that the pope sees the problem only in part... Because also with regard to the deceptive practices of yet another cardinal – Oscar Rodiguez Maradiaga – he does not seem to be overly interested in bringing light into the affair.”
Meier points out that the cardinal from Honduras is accused of both financial irregularity – receiving a 35,000 Euros monthly payment from the Catholic University of Tegucigalpa – and of covering up for the financial and moral corruptions of his auxiliary bishop, Juan José Pineda, who even now represents Maradiaga when the latter is traveling [which he is most of the time].
Pineda is even accused of having sexually harassed some seminarians, according to Meier. The journalist recalls that the pope sent an Argentine bishop to investigate the situation in the Diocese of Tegucigalpa, Maradiaga's diocese. “For a long time now, he [the pope] has his report... But why does he not establish sanctions? Because he wishes to spare his friend Maradiaga?”
[First of all, why does he not reveal what the report contains - because for all we know, his investigator may have reported to him that there was 'no there there', and if so, what would be the basis for sanctions? Of course, if the report had been exculpatory of Maradiaga, there is no reason why the pope should not have revealed it right away after he got the report. His silence over the report raises suspicions that there may have been, after all, 'some there there'.
Maradiaga, who is currently in the U.S. for the treatment of his prostate cancer, is “being represented currently by Pineda himself.”
In conclusion, Meier wonders whether “all these fallible cardinals are damaging the curial reform? And the credibility of Pope Francis?” He also asks whether the pope’s choice of cardinals more in the sense of a globalization “pays off.”
“
Are some Third-World-Cardinals corruptible? With these questions, one looks forward to the upcoming new appointments to the cardinalate in the middle of May.”
[Meier poses an unfair question. Corruptible cardinals are not limited to the Third World!]
The Swiss journalist ends his critical account of Pope Francis’s personnel policy with the comment:
“With regard to his choice of personnel and cardinals, one cannot get rid of the impression that this pope acts more according to his gut and after too little reflection.”