Pope Francis Must Resign: Archbishop Vigano

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While I have never been Pope Francis’s biggest fan, I think we should all be cautious before jumping in to believe one side or the other. Likely the truth, whatever it is, will come out before long.

Also, is demanding the resignation of a pope a good precedent to set? Doesn’t it pave the way for people who dislike the pope digging up whatever dirt they can find on him in an effort to get rid of him? I am not sure what the right answer is, but it’s worth considering.
 
I’ve been thinking that myself. The future might get really messy.
 
All: I like to jump to conclusions as much as the next guy, but let’s please wait to actually see some corroborating evidence that McCarrick was in fact sanctioned by Benedict before we start talking about a new conclave, ok?

Regarding some U.S. Cardinals who deny that they knew anything of McCarrick’s behavior, well, all I have to say is that their party-line denials would make some politicians blush. Shame.
 
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Let’s keep please keep this discussion civil and otherwise charitable.

And let’s keep it confined to this one thread.
 
I’ve decided not to “jump in” at all and leave it in God’s hands. Most of what I would want to say on the matter would not be well received by certain factions of this forum.
 
Benedict XVI resigned because of infighting in the Vatican like this, that he felt he was not up to handling it. Vigano has taken those intrigues public a couple of time already, so it is not surprising he has done it again. His accusations should be taken seriously, but the fact that the Vatican is a mess of intrigues should surprise no one.

When Francis took office, his mandate was to change things. As is usual, outsiders came in and insiders went out. Parolin was brought back from Venezuela and made Secretary of State, second after the Pope. Vigano had already been sent to the US earlier, away from his inside position. McCarrick may have changed in a lesser way, punishments forgotten, but it is not a surprise.

Should this infighting force another Pope to resign? I doubt is, but that is up to Francis, not me. What kind of a successor is needed? That is up to the cardinals, hich do not include Vigano. There are more “outsiders” from the peripheries, so that may have an effect. Hopefully it will be someone as dedicated to mercy as Francis, or the infighting will continue.
 
Criticizing a popes actions is not necessarily inciting animosity or hatred against him.
 
For my part I am sad that Fr. Heilman seems to be jumping on the “get the Pope” bandwagon. It makes it hard for those of us who are not baying for the Pope’s blood to continue participating in his prayer group. Don’t get me wrong, I knew the guy was not Pope Francis’ biggest fan, but he wasn’t being blatant about it until this year. It’s getting a bit much. Concentrating on prayer when people are posting about Francis being the Anti-Christ as predicted by Fatima is a challenge indeed.
 
Erikaspirit16 said:
Already on this forum you can see two points of view developing:
  1. Francis should resign. He is not the answer to the problem, he is PART of the problem.
  2. Vigano is leading a palace coup and leading the conservative faction. Or a variation, he is lying.
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Point of view #3. We need more than the word of one man to accept either #1 or #2. Are there other witnesses? Were Pope Benedict’s instructions put into writing? Did McCarrick disappear from public ministry until Pope Francis’ election? If so, how did that go unnoticed? If not, why didn’t the Vatican do anything about it, and why didn’t Vigano speak up then?

So many open questions, and yet so much rush to judgement.
 
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Maxirad said:
Remember Canon 1373, people
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I really hope you can see that this kind of attitude contributes to the hush hush culture that has damaged the church in recent years. If these allegations are true then the Pope absolutely should resign. We need transparency now more that ever, not trying to scare honest Catholics away from trying to get this mess cleaned up. Respect the office, but if need be, hold it’s occupant acoountable.
 
rcwitness said:
Wouldn’t Francis want to ask “What do you mean?”?
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Maybe he thought he did know what it meant. It seems like it was a brief meeting. And Pope Francis could have just interpreted it as sour grapes from someone he could now see was “far right.”

It’s really just speculation. By Vigano’s own account, he did not explicitly tell Pope Francis the nature of the allegations against McCarrick. It doesn’t even seem that Vigano explicitly told Cardinal Wuerl. He just assumed by his demeanor that it was clear Wuerl knew what he was talking about.

Which is not to say that there is nothing to what Vigano is saying. I don’t personally believe he is trying to make some political maneuver. I’m inclined to think he fully believes all that he is saying. But a lot of his statements rely on his own ability to “read between the lines.” I think that’s not a great foundation for levying accusations of this magnitude. If, as has been implied elsewhere, he doesn’t even have his facts straight regarding the “sanctions” placed against McCarrick, that a huge hole in this entire narrative.

I am interested to hear the responses from others in the hierarchy.
 
twf said:
If this is true it is HUGE and you should be able to find multiple valid links from countless sources… because this would be front page headlines.
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There are literally multiple sources reporting this. Here are just a few. I even included the National catholic Reporter to show that these are not hit pieces.

www.cbsnews.com

Former Vatican official claims Pope Francis knew of abusive ex-cardinal, calls for his resignation

"Pope Francis must be the first to set a good example to Cardinals and Bishops who covered up McCarrick's abuses and resign along with all of them," writes a former Vatican ambassador to Washington
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c215b205973d


www.usatoday.com

Ex-Vatican diplomat calls on 'sinful' Pope Francis to resign over sex abuse scandal

Pope Francis should resign for 'sinful conduct' in covering up sexual abuse allegations against Theodore McCarrick, a retired Vatican diplomat says.
www.usatoday.com

www.ncronline.org

Former ambassador Vigano accuses Vatican of covering up McCarrick scandal for years

A former Vatican ambassador to Washington has published an 11-page letter filled with accusations against dozens of former and current high-level officials in the Catholic Church, claiming there was a systemic cover-up of allegations that now former cardinal Theodore McCarrick was sexually...
www.ncronline.org www.ncronline.org
 
Mark, all of those sources are reporting on the same exact thing: the (unverified) letter written by Vigano. We need confirmation or correction from the Vatican before we know the truth.
 
Former Vatican envoy pens j’accuse letter in McCarrick case

DUBLIN (AP) — The Vatican’s retired ambassador to the United States has penned an 11-page letter accusing senior Vatican officials of knowing as early as 2000 that the disgraced former archbishop of Washington, ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, regularly invited seminarians into his bed but they still promoted him to cardinal.
The letter, an extraordinary j’accuse from a one-time Holy See diplomat, also accuses Pope Francis of having initially rehabilitated McCarrick despite being informed of his penchant for young seminarians in 2013, soon after he was elected pope.

The National Catholic Register and another conservative site, LifeSiteNews, published the letter attributed to Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano on Sunday as the pope was wrapping up a two-day visit to Ireland.
Vigano, 77, a conservative whose hard-line anti-gay views are well known, also urged the reformist pope to resign over the issue. He and the pope have long been on opposite ideological sides, with the pope more a pastor and Vigano more a cultural warrior.

Former Vatican envoy pens j’accuse letter in McCarrick case | America Magazine
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The sources linked before, are about the one same story and out of Lifesite News, The Church Militant and of course the secular sources are going to jump on anything against the Pope, regardless of who he is.

Jim
 
I read the whole report. While some things are straight facts, others are not certain and/or conjecture.

I have a hard time believing that Vigano is lying though. If he is, that would be wildly irresponsible and scandalous on his part. I couldn’t see a prelate directly admonishing the Pope unless he has good reason to do so.

Regardless, instead of jumping to conclusions, we should let things play out and see what happens.
 
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