Monday 25 February 2013

Interference with the Conclave

The UK's only cardinal eligible to vote in the conclave has been accused of impropriety.  Apparently Cardinal Keith O’Brien has been outed by four priests with whom he was accused of committing inappropriate acts. Not content with forwarding the brief to the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Mennini, someone leaked the file to the Observer once Benedict XVI announced his resignation. One of the priests had left the priesthood, apparently discouraged at the thought of spending his life subject to the authority of the cardinal, who was due to resign next month. This action has been calculated to produce the maximum embarrassment during the run up to the conclave.

We are somewhat confused. On the surface this seems to be a case of payback for the cardinal's strident stand against same sex marriage. However, on other matters such as clerical celibacy Cardinal O'Brien has expressed rather progressive views. Who then benefits from his exclusion from the conclave?

In Los Angeles, Cardinal Mahoney has been under investigation for his alleged participation in an abuse coverup. An activist group called Catholics United has been gathering signatures on a petition asking that Cardinal Mahoney not participate in the conclave. He has decided to depart for Rome.

In Italy the papers are full of unsourced accounts of the report issued by the three cardinals tasked with investigating the leaked Vatican documents. They attempt to link the resignation of the pope to reports of a gay lobby which exercises undue influence in the Vatican. The Holy Father has decided that the acts of this investigation, known only to himself, remain solely at the disposition of the new pope.

In our own backyard Cardinal Collins has been accused by Star writer Dan Smith of not subscribing to his own views of  the pressing issues facing the Church. Asked to say what the world’s cardinals will be looking for in choosing Benedict’s successor, Collins pointedly made no mention of the conservative social issues — the ban on women priests, celibacy for the priesthood, opposition to birth control — that liberal Catholics in the West so desperately want the church to revisit. Dan Smith has performed the journalistic miracle of quoting the Cardinal as not saying something! The Cardinal instead identified persecution and rampant individualism as issues facing the Church. “In some parts of the world, the challenge is persecution, and rampant individualism in other places — like this part of the world,” said Collins.

UK's top cardinal accused of 'inappropriate acts' by priests

Cardinal Mahony Determined to Help Elect New Pope

Toronto Cardinal dashes liberal Catholics’ hopes for social reform

2 comments:

Santa said...

It would seem that the Pope has not decided to release the report to the cardinals prior to their deliberations.

Rorate Ceali is reporting that, "The Holy Father has decided that the acts of this investigation, known only to himself, remain solely at the disposition of the new pope."

See: http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/02/vatileaks-final-chapter-in-this.html

Barona said...

It is nice to know that secular powers are very much concerned with the election of a Pope. The devil knows who his adversary is...