The Vatican under Siege
What Must the Church Do to Restore Trust?

by Lawrence A. Franklin  •  October 28, 2018 at 4:00 am

       

• If reports are verified that Pope Francis, while Archbishop of Buenos Aires, defamed accusers of predator priests, refused to meet with them, and denied that any abuse occurred under his watch, then he may not possess the moral authority to cleanse the Church of predatory priests, and those who protected them, without resigning.
• The Vatican, it seems, still needs to make a policy decision on whether to allow homosexual-oriented clergy. Pedophilia, on the other hand, needs to be treated with zero tolerance.
• The Vatican could convene a new Vatican Council where resolutions could be adopted to permit priests to marry and have children. In a world where women are increasingly recognized as equals before the law, such a council could also decree that female priests are permissible. These changes would be superficial and would not alter the eternal truths and dogma of the Catholic faith.
• The Catholic Church needs to recast itself as the conscience of the world, although this could invite censure, even persecution, and risk alienation from secular authorities and some leaders of other religions over issues such as abortion, immigration, capital punishment, religious freedom, the equality of women, and freedom of conscience.

On October 12, Pope Francis officially accepted the resignation of Washington's archbishop, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, from the high-profile post Wuerl had occupied for 12 years. Wuerl's resignation was the latest and most direct casualty of the sex-abuse scandal that for years has been rocking the Catholic Church. Pictured: Pope Francis waves as he leaves after his September 24, 2015 visit at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Washington, DC, as Donald Wuerl (right) looks on. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

On October 12, Pope Francis officially accepted the resignation of Washington's archbishop, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, from the high-profile post Wuerl had occupied for 12 years. Wuerl's resignation was the latest and most direct casualty of the sex-abuse scandal that for years has been rocking the Catholic Church. More specifically, Wuerl -- a close ally of Pope Francis -- stepped down as a result of a nearly 900-page Pennsylvania grand jury report from 2018, which detailed the extent of the rampant sexual abuse of priests against children and of the systemic cover-up of the crimes.

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