A cardinal and former Vatican official is being replaced for a special Mass this weekend at one of the most prominent Catholic churches in America following his controversial comments about sex abuse in the clergy. The retired Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos reportedly thanked and congratulated a French bishop for hiding a sexually abusive priest in a letter he wrote in 2001
He recently defended his 2001 letter arguing that the French bishop couldn't tell police about a predator priest because he learned about the crimes in the confessional.
The French bishop himself, however, reportedly contradicted this claim, admitting that the priest admitted his crimes in a normal conversation, which is not a privileged communication according to church rules.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests expressed outrage that he had been chosen to deliver a Latin mass this weekend at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington in honor of the fifth anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI's inauguration.
"Giving him the honor of leading this mass is problematic in two ways. First, it rewards wrong-doing, and that in turn encourages future wrong-doing. Second, it rubs salt into the already-deep and still-fresh wounds of millions of hurting Catholics and thousands of hurting victims," the group wrote in a letter to Archbishop Pietro Sambi.
"You can talk about children's safety day in and day out, but when you associate with and honor a man who endangers children's safety, you are helping to maintain the same unhealthy church culture that has lead to hundreds of thousands of children getting raped, sodomized and assaulted," it said.
Ina statement posted on its web site, The Paulus Institute which is hosting the Mass said in consultation with Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, it has agreed to seek another celebrant for the Pontifical Solemn High Mass.
"This action will help maintain the solemnity, reverence and beauty of the Mass," it said.
The Traditional Latin Mass planned for April 24th honoring Pope Benedict on his five-year inauguration anniversary is a liturgical event much bigger than the individual celebrant, it said.
"Cardinal Castrillon was approached to celebrate the Mass early in what has been a three-year effort because of his special experience in celebrating this form of Mass and his efforts under Pope John-Paul II and Pope Benedict XV I in encouraging the traditional form of the Mass, full liturgy and sacraments."
The Paulus Institute said it was in the process of seeking another Bishop to celebrate the Pontifical Solemn Mass on Saturday and was confident that one would agree.
"The Paulus Institute regards all sexual abuse as tragic and a heinous sin and supports Pope Benedict's fight to rid this disease from the Church. It stands on the side of every victim of clerical sexual abuse and earnestly desires to bind up the wounds done to their human dignity, to vindicate their civil and canonical rights, and to help them in the restoration in Christ of all they have lost.
"To that end, The Paulus Institute supports the directives by the Supreme Roman Pontiff and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that all bishops should report crimes of sexual abuse to the police in accordance with the requirements of civil law. However, the Paulus Institute is not competent, nor does it have the facts, to form an opinion about the about recent media reports concerning Cardinal Castrillon," it said.
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