Second-guessing John Paul II?

[K_C]

Perhaps this post really belongs under “secular news” as it appeared online from the LA Times. However, it IS news that directly affects Catholic issues, so I decided to post it here.

Has anyone else seen this yet? I know there was some discussion of this matter in Feb, but find nothing later. I realize that the credibility of this author is undermined by his hopes to sell his book. However, this latest report *seems *factual. (If not, it can be quickly countered in the press.)

I am disturbed at the allegation that our present Holy Father is somehow at odds with JP II. Can anyone fill us in more about this upsetting sequence of events (if true)? Article:

Second-guessing John Paul II​

Pope Benedict’s crackdown on clergy abusers threatens his predecessor’s legacy.

By Jason Berry
Jason Berry is coauthor, with Gerald Renner, of “Vows of Silence.” He is directing a documentary
based on the book’s account of the Maciel saga.

May 28 2006

ON MAY 19, Pope Benedict XVI disgraced one of the most powerful priests in the Roman Catholic
Church, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, the founder of the ultraconservative Legion of Christ.
Benedict’s decision to publicly discipline the priest came after an investigation into allegations that
Maciel had sexually abused “more than 20 and less than 100 victims” in seminary, according to the
National Catholic Reporter.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion...0,6622973.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

Visit latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com

 

[frommi]

Every Pope will be different than the one before. It would be short sighted to expect B16 to do everything as JPII did them. I think it’s relatively well documented that B16, for example, is not as into the more ‘theatrical’ aspects of the papacy…and has moved some of those onto cardinals (the beatification of saints for example).

It’s also worth considering that had JPII been in better health for the last several years of his life, he may have made different decisions about a great many things.

One never knows.

 

[FightingFat]

Pope John Paul II, who called for the church to atone for institutional sins by “the purification of historical memory,” sheltered Maciel for years. Utterly ignoring the pleas of Maciel’s victims that the priest be held to account, John Paul praised him instead. In late 2004, the pope celebrated Maciel for his “integral formation of the person” even as the sexual-abuse charges against him, dating from 1976, gathered dust in the Vatican.

Not a massively objective article- this sort of immotive language betrays an anti-Catholic agenda; linking it with one Pope vs. another Pope is just more gleeful anti-Catholicism. I would like a clearer view of events here, anyone know the story?

 

[Digitonomy]

Of course Benedict’s action is at odds with the legacy of John Paul as to the treatment of Degollado. And Benedict will be at odds with John Paul on many other issues, for exactly the reasons frommi mentioned. I don’t see why this is a problem.

Now if the Holy Father say, invokes the Blessed Virgin Larry, that difference in approach would be a problem.

 

[Caesar]

You have to remember a couple points here-

• Before becoming Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger lead the investigations into Maciel. If he believes that the allegations of Maciel are true, I trust him on this.
• Benedict XVI dropped the case against Maciel and asked him to step down from the leadership of the Legion of Christ and liturgical duties- to which Maciel complied. He did not indict Maciel on anything. This can be seen as only an attempt to quiet a potentially massive scandal.

 

[Hastrman]

This is really a difference of degree, not kind; JP II didn’t say not to punish, he just punished less.

And frankly, JP II kinda dropped the ball on this issue. Doesn’t really matter. Louis IX expelled the Jews, Francis of Assissi did himself harm, and some of the Roman martyrs were Arian heretics (before the heresy was condemned)–so they weren’t perfect. They were still saints!

 

[JKirkLVNV]

The Servant of God, Pope John Paul the Great, has no more devoted and grateful son than me. I think, however, it’s important to remember that the old Holy Father was very ill and increasingly incapacitated the last few years of his and things probably weren’t run as tightly as they might have been. I don’t see the Holy Father’s handling of this is a repudiation of or a criticism of Pope John Paul.

 

[OriginalJS]

You have to remember a couple points here-

• Before becoming Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger lead the investigations into Maciel. If he believes that the allegations of Maciel are true, I trust him on this.
• Benedict XVI dropped the case against Maciel and asked him to step down from the leadership of the Legion of Christ and liturgical duties- to which Maciel complied. He did not indict Maciel on anything. This can be seen as only an attempt to quiet a potentially massive scandal.

I agree. The fact is that, for whatever reasons, JPII never appeared to be much exercised about the sexual abuse scandals or the hierarchy who permitted them. Witness the favorable treatment of Cardinal Bernard Law being installed at St. Mary Major in Rome. Benedict XVI, however, his age notwithstanding, seems better to understand how devastating those scandals were and the necessity of affirmative and public action, even if it means breaking with tradition. For the majority of people, Benedicts’ actions will be seen as favorable.

 

[TimOliv]

You have to remember a couple points here-

• Before becoming Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger lead the investigations into Maciel. If he believes that the allegations of Maciel are true, I trust him on this.
• Benedict XVI dropped the case against Maciel and asked him to step down from the leadership of the Legion of Christ and liturgical duties- to which Maciel complied. He did not indict Maciel on anything. This can be seen as only an attempt to quiet a potentially massive scandal.

I agree with Caesar on this one. Maciel was investigated as a result of some pretty serious accusations. Benedict XVI did not excommunicate him, did not laicize him, he just told him to go retire and step out of his leadership role. This isn’t a threat against JPII, this is just doing what needs to be done.