We believe that Prof. Robert Miller's analysis of the events at First Things, with a kind link to us, presents an accurate portrayal of the deep Vatican problems related to the Wielgus Affair, particularly the disastrous process of episcopal nominations, centered in the Congregation for Bishops.
Let us remind our critics that we had not published a single word on Wielgus in December 2006 - because we had trusted the first note issued by the Holy See, according to which the "Holy See ... took into consideration all the circumstances of his life, including those regarding his past" and the "Holy Father... nourishes full trust in Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus and, in full awareness, has entrusted him with the mission of pastor of the Archdiocese of Warsaw".
"All" (Tutti). "Full"(Piena). We should have guessed that the episcopal-picking process, a process which has presented, on average, disastrous results for decades, could not have been trusted this time...
The concluding paragraph of Miller's text is particularly appropriate:
Let us remind our critics that we had not published a single word on Wielgus in December 2006 - because we had trusted the first note issued by the Holy See, according to which the "Holy See ... took into consideration all the circumstances of his life, including those regarding his past" and the "Holy Father... nourishes full trust in Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus and, in full awareness, has entrusted him with the mission of pastor of the Archdiocese of Warsaw".
"All" (Tutti). "Full"(Piena). We should have guessed that the episcopal-picking process, a process which has presented, on average, disastrous results for decades, could not have been trusted this time...
The concluding paragraph of Miller's text is particularly appropriate:
Now, either the Vatican knew about Wielgus' past when it appointed him, as Wielgus says and as the Vatican's statement in December strongly suggests, or else it did not, as Re now maintains. If the former, then the Vatican's investigation of Wielgus prior to the appointment was grossly negligent, failing to discover information that was readily available in Poland. If the latter, as seems much more likely, then the Holy See exercised very poor judgment in making the appointment in the first place and even worse judgment in attempting to ram it through even after the truth about Wielgus became public. It stood by Wielgus while it knew he was lying to the faithful by denying the allegations. Many faithful Catholics looking at this situation will think that our bishops, rather than their critics, are the ones doing the real harm to the Church here.
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Our recess continues for a few more days.
Urgent news may be posted at any time.
Our recess continues for a few more days.
Urgent news may be posted at any time.
