Friday, March 12, 2010

Scandal still not enough to threaten the Pope

The case of a sex abuser being given accommodation in Munich with the approval of its then archbishop, now the Pope, is reminiscent of the scandal that engulfed Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor soon after his appointment to Westminster.

While Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, he transferred the paedophile priest Michael Hill to Gatwick Airport where he abused more boys.

Hill was convicted and sent to prison in 1997.

There were calls for the cardinal to resign.

What is often forgotten is how little was known of paedophilia.

It was believed it could be cured, and that penitence was tantamount to recovery.

The Church, in its ignorance of the recidivism of paedophiles, too often gave them a second, third or fourth chance, moving them to different parishes, or even different countries, where they just abused again.

Children’s homes made the same mistake.

The latest scandal coming out of Germany is not enough to threaten the Pope or the Church.

But on top of a succession of damaging revelations it can only increase the damage being done to its moral authority on the world stage.

The killer fact that could bring down the Pope or Church probably does not even exist.

The Pope is pretty unassailable.

He is not elected, he is a monarch, and the centralisation that has taken place under the last two Popes has cemented that power.

Pope Benedict XVI has also indicated in his three encyclicals the depths of his own integrity and intellectual rigour.

Yesterday Irish bookmakers’ Paddy Power reduced its odds on Pope Benedict XVI resigning from 12-1 to 3-1.

The favourite to succeed him is Nigeria’s Cardinal Francis Arinze at 4-1.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: TOUK