Olivia Ingrassia
Fordham University student
This past August, former papal nuncio
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò released
a revelatory letter that detailed how Pope Francis was well aware of
ex-Cardinal McCarrick’s heinous clerical abuse. This scathing letter divulged
that Pope Francis not only lifted sanctions placed on the sexual predator by
Pope Benedict XVI, but also covered for him, even making McCarrick his “trusted
counsellor.” While many have discredited the 11-page
epistle merely as a far-right tactic to oppose the Jesuit Pope, this
report is undoubtedly concerning, especially since the Vatican has remained
silent and neither denied nor addressed these claims. This has left many
demanding further responses from the pontiff, who has instead deferred
to “silence and prayer” during these most tumultuous times.
However, despite the potential danger, many
prelates have courageously defended Viganò’s claims. For example, Cardinal
Raymond Burke said
that, “the declarations made by a prelate of the authority of Archbishop Carlo
Maria Viganò must be totally taken to heart by those responsible in the
Church.” Burke continued in speaking to the validity of calls for the Pope’s
resignation if these allegations are proven true. Similarly, Monsignor
Jean-Francois Lantheaume and also spoke
to the veracity of these claims and questioned Francis’ taciturnity in the wake
of these searing allegations, equating his silence to cover-up. In addition,
Viganò recently broke his silence and doubled
down on his original letter, stating that his testimony was
published “during a crescendo of continual news of terrible events, with
thousands of innocent victims destroyed and the vocations and lives of young
priests and religious disturbed," and asserts before God that it is true.
Viganò, who has reportedly
activated the death switch, pointed to the fact that neither the Pope nor any
Cardinal in Rome denied his testimony, and accused Pope Francis of slander and
hypocrisy.
