What’s Up With Pope Francis? Caught in a Bind, He Lashes Out1

Time was running out. It seemed he had made his way past all his opponents and he was on the verge of going into the end zone when he fumbled the ball. It was picked up by the opposing side who ran it back for their own touchdown. Final Score: Francis 0; Ill-wishers 7.

Pope Francis was on the last day of his visit in Chile where he had arrived three days earlier when he was asked by a reporter concerned about his no tolerance policy for sexual abuse and Bishop Juan de la Cruz  Barros Madrid. The Pope had named bishop of a small diocese in the Chilean city of Osorno in 2015.  At the time of his installation as bishop there were “teeming protesters, shouting matches, and popping balloons. . . . The service was cut short, and Barros was escorted by police through a side door. Chile’s cardinals, along with most of its bishops, were not in attendance. Familiar with recent history, they knew it was going to be an ugly scene.”

This near riot was because Barros was a protégé of Fr. Fernando Karadim who had been found guilty of molesting many minors by the Holy See. It ordered Karadim then 80-years-old to a life of “prayer and penance.”  Karadim was one of Chile’s most influential clerics who has been priest to the wealthy, powerful elite.  His case was called the worst scandal ever to befall the Chilean Catholic Church. Victims who were once his devotees said that Barros knew about the accusations, did nothing about them, and witnessed some himself.

When the appointment of Barros was announced protests spread throughout Chile. Many called for the Pope to reconsider.  Two Chilean bishops went to Rome advising against the appointment. The Pope told them he had analyzed the situation in detail and found no reason to change his mind.  The pressure on the Pope grew especially after he spoke out against “the scourge of the sexual abuse of minors.”

But the Vatican pushed back saying prior to Barrros’s appointment “the Congregation for Bishops carefully examined the prelate’s candidature and did not find objective reasons to preclude the appointment.” An article from which I obtained the quotes above written back in April 2015 noted if the Pope lets the appointment stand he will imperil “his reputation as a reformer.

Marie Collins from Dublin, a then member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, said: “I just don’t understand this appointment. It seems completely contrary to what the pope has been saying. I really feel for the survivors in Chile, Juan Carlos and the others. They’ve been so courageous and it must be very tough for them.”

Up to that time of the reporter’s question the trip had gone swimmingly. The Pope had met with victims of sexual abuse and apologized for the Church’s role in it. The  reporter’s question was one the Pope could have hit out of the park with a simple answer, “I have full confidence in Bishop Barros. I expect he will do the right thing when it comes to victims of priest abuse.”

Rather than answering with sugar, the Pope apparently showing his irritation replied with some tabasco sauce: “The day they bring me proof against Bishop Barros, I’ll speak. There is not one shred of proof against him. It’s all calumny. Is that clear?”

That doesn’t sound like the Pope Francis we have all come to know. He undid all the good he had done to that point on his trip falling into the trap of those who wish him ill. You don’t say victims are making of false and defamatory statements in order to damage a bishop’s reputation even if you believe it. You don’t challenge victims to bring you proof after the Church has already been given all their statements.

I initially thought the Pope was on his fourth day in Chile.  He’s an 81-year-old man who had never followed the TB12 way of life. You have to expect he was tired. He is after all human and when worn down old folk get grouchy. But that didn’t really satisfy me.

Barros faced allegations similar to those against Cardinal Law. Those should have stopped his appointment. Pope Francis never would have appointed him with a free hand. But he did not have one because of Vatican intrigue .The top cardinal in the Holy See is Cardinal Angelo Sodano. He is Dean of the College of Cardinals and was the Vatican’s Secretary of State for 15 years. Sodano who speaks five languages was appointed apostolic nuncio to Chile in 1977 where he stayed for 11 years digging deep roots there. Pinochet was in power during his time.

Sodano considered the complaints of victims of abuse as the “petty gossip of the moment.”  He stopped two investigations into notorious abusers  Hans Hermann Groer  and Marcial Maciel.  Sodano was also buddies with Karadima while in Argentina. Under Sodana’s influence the current papal nucio to Chile is Ivo Scapola called a “Sodano protegé.” Gerald Posner who wrote a book on the Vatican bank said: “Pope Francis’ reform broom has not swept up Cardinal Sodano, who at 87 relishes the Vatican power game.”

It appears the both Sodano and Scapola lobbied and forced the appointment of Barros. Pope Francis against his better judgment did it. He was always bothered by it perhaps spending sleepless nights. When it came up all the guilt he had against appointing a person who was accused of abuse as a bishop welled up in him. He lashed out showing his frustration.

This is the realpolitik of the Vatican. What the Pope got in exchange for this we may never know. The act of appointing Barros is old; the Pope’s outburst new, unexpected and wrong. Pope’s act against his better judgment has come back to take a bite out of his reputation, that of the Church, and gave the ill-wishers a clear victory.

Ona side note I must wish my sister Kathleen “Happy Birthday” on her 39th birthday.

 

39 Comments

  1. John King McDonald

    Judoka are certainly … Hip … to all the … Joints . Dig the way you flipped that , K .

  2. John King McDonald

    Amen !

  3. I liked to play Judo, when, I was young. I met a lot of Japanese athletes through the sport. They were all good guys.

    France is big on Judo. I spent a summer as a Judo bum in Europe hitch-hiking between dojos. Sometimes, I’d hang out at the Paris Kodo-khan, begging a little ran-dori off, whoever, was bowing on to the mat that morning. Some of the French guys were damned tough Judoka. A great bunch to tag along with for a rut in the Pigalle. There’s nothing like knowing the natives for getting hip to all the joints. Days long gone, but, at least I have the memories.

  4. “Runaway Horses.” A Mishima Yukio novel based upon the 1936 Cherry Blossom Revolt of middle and lower ranking Japanese officers against their superiors “Chosei faction .” The generals and colonels of that faction were in league with the Zaibatsu (industrial capitalists) The young officers thought them traitorous manipulators of the Emperor and, responsible for Japan’s sorry economic condition during the Great Depression. The novel, part of a trilogy of books, largely prefigures Mishimas’ suicidal gesture. The Japanese made up a special word to describe Mishima’s craziness.

    • John King McDonald

      Alright, that’s the ref . then , will check out . Wild Horses puzzled . Samurai , upper class , were superior horsemen.

      Yes , Mishima was … Crazy . Now … explain who is crazy and who is not .
      It is often just perspective, though not entirely .

      The soldiers he addressed from the balcony with his dreams of a restored Imperial State , laughed at him .

      Per … Suicidal gestures … Have to maintain that a gesture indicates, while an action leaves no doubt . Hari Kari and Seppuku are as inscrutable as ever to the Western mind . The Bushido code of death before dishonor reined in the wild horses of the Japanese psyche . Mishima’s … Act … was deliberative and rational . That was its Power !

  5. John King McDonald

    Abe , ishkabibble … Just spoke with Tommy Tamahagane . He sends his regards from the iron ore sand quarry and recommends :

    Secrets of the Samurai Sword – The Making of a Masterpiece . NOVA / PBS

  6. Abe , ever hear of them … Kamikazes’ ?

    Imagine that .

    Whoooooossssssshhhhhhhhh !

    • Samurai are intense enough for me. I’ve done blacksmithing and knife making so I have assembled quite a library on the Samurai sword. The best book on how they are made is The Craft Of The Japanese Sword. I started one on my coal forge and after a week I knew it was going to end up as a well made canoe anchor. Incredibly difficult. I have since concentrated on shorter versions. I have one nice one that I could certainly commit seppuku with. Maybe Tadzio would volunteer to be my second.

      • John King McDonald

        Naddszio would definitely make the cut .

        That shank of steel , where the handle is fitted over , is where the great Master Samurai Sword makers incised their mark . You are blessed to have one find its way to you .

        That’s Naddszio , not Nazio by the way . There is a critical difference .

  7. ★ He subscribed to the warrior code of Bushido .

    • His comrade assigned to decapitate him by sword as part of the suicide ritual of Seppuku , failed on his first attempt . He failed on his second attempt . He then turned to another intimate who did complete the ritual . The comrade who had failed in his two attempts then committed Seppuku , sticking a knife in his abdomen with a disemboweling twist . I read a lot of Mishima years ago . He is intense . He died at the age of 45 .

      Cultural solipsism is a bitch !

      Yukio Mishima .

  8. John King McDonald

    Yukio Mishima where are you ?

    • Didn’t she marry John Lennon?

      Fifteen years ago I bought a wakizashi sword at a little antique shop in southern Maryland. They thought the highly polished scabbard was plastic. I asked if I could remove the handle and lo and behold, it was a real early Edo period Samurai sword, for $60. The Japanese man that appraised it (at $2000) had a photograph on the wall of Mishima. I had never heard of him before that. He told me about the man and I really have a hard time envisioning a bunch of guys standing around while their admired leader tries to gut himself. Then, before he dies from his wounds, one of them has to cut his head off to end the deal with a WOOOOOSH!

      • ” She ” would have fucked you up . Yukio Mishima was an aristocrat of Samurai and royal heritage . A dark and prolific writer , he subscribed to the ritual warrior code of Bushido . He committed ritual suicide after a failed coup attempt at a postwar Japanese military base . He was the leader of the Tatenokai , a Nationalist paramilitary group whose object was to restore the pre-war powers of the Emperor . He was no punk .

  9. Bill, there is no Japanese Army. Since the end of WWII, it’s been called the Japanese Self-Defense Force. MacArthur wrote a clause into Japan’s the post-war constitution prohibiting the formation of an army. Read before you write.

  10. Who agrees with me? Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn . . . the fewer the better . . . as the song goes, “Give me Ten Men who are Stout Hearted Men and I’ll soon give you ten-thousand more . . . start me with Ten, Stout Hearted Men, who will fight for the right they adore . . . bolder and bolder and shoulder to shoulder they grow as they head to the FORE . . .then, when, stout hearted men . . . ” Well, look up the lyrics . . . give me 300 Spartans over one million pussymarchers! Give me 300 Savillians, and we’ll rout an entire nation . . . .
    Historical Fact: When the three O”Sullivan brothers from South Boston landed on Guadalcanal, the enemy Japanese knew it was all over . . one million Japanese soldiers didn’t stand a chance against three stout hearted Savillians from Southie and Savin Hill.

    • Of course, I’m talking about yesteryear’s Imperialistic Japanese Army, today’s Japanese Army is an honorable strong fighting force and America’s Ally.

      • You are KILLING me! I finally figured out why I like you, Bill. Aside from the fact that you know and like boxing. You’re insane! Nothing better to fertilize an intelligent mind than insanity.

  11. Yes, I did mean to write INTERNETIONALISTS . . .it’s a new word . . .I got it from Mac the Dog, a draft of the sequelae by the Nebraskan WMC . . .it should be a blockbuster

    INTERNETIONALISTS are generally spawns of the cocaine-head generation (1970s-1980s) or leaders therein(like Neocons) and they include many brainwashed youth who grew up glued to YouTube and high tech gadgetry (IT) (the Internet) and also includes all leftist Internationalists, Imperialists, and Interventionists.

    Remember the word: INTERNETIONALISTS. Their rife within the phony “resistance” who resist by staring at purple-hazed electronically digitized screens . . .hand held Boob Tubes . . . while marching for what? Law and Order? Liberalism, Socialism, Big Government . . .like I said: BOOBS GLUED TO PURPLE-HAZED BOOB-TUBES.

    Notice, Dan, I haven’t attacked anyone personally except I have attacked the pussymarchers in general and liberals in general and I do excoriate a few higher up muckety-mucks, but I refrain from constantly demeaning my fellow bloggers, even those I vehemently disagree with, although I don’t refrain from giving them a kindly corrective now and then and a piece of my peaceful mind. It’s good for liberals to hear opposing views once in a while, because they really think everyone or at least most people agree with them.

  12. Dan, a bit of advice: Try to write a paragraph without an ad hominem attack in it.

    Of course, it’s the Leftists’ stock in trade, not to inform or merely disagree, but to demean and throw stones and misinform deliberately . . . that is to intentionally deceive after due deliberation . . .that is their stock in trade. You don’t want to be identified with that ilk, do you Dan?

  13. The Conmacman Clan’s Nebraskan WMC may or may not be related to the previously identified Nebraskan Supreme Court Justice, now retired, working as a conservative consultant, as I’m led to understand it.

  14. Larry Nassar is an American-born Arab . . . .his wife divorced him long ago . . .

    Remember the leftist M.A.F.I.A.

    leftist lying MEDIA
    leftist lying ACADEMIA, including studious shills like . . . such as . . .
    leftist lying FEDS, including Wyshak and the lying dog James Clapper, lied under oath that there was no mega-data collection by government . . .also lied on National T.V. about “no FISA warrants” being issues against Trump’s team
    leftist lying INTERNETIONALISTS . . .these include most of younger generation spoon fed on the Internet, and also the neocons, and also all Imperialists, Interventionists, and Internationalists who support open borders and the dilution and demise of Western Civilization
    leftist lying Amoralists including Atheistic Antagonists and Agnostics whose only Higher Power is money, mammon, the Clintonistas, Obamistas, and paganistic Liberalism as espoused by Today’s Democratic Party.

    See the writings of the Nebraskan William M.C., the former jurist and current prolific Maestro of the Conmacman Clan. Most of these ideas are culled from the writings of Nebraskan WMC.

  15. Well, we’ve certainly wandered a long way from Pope Francis. I thought you’d like to know that Dr. Larry Nassar (of gymnastics fame) taught catechism classes at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in East Lansing, Michigan. He also married his wife in a Catholic ceremony.

    Nasssar often mentioned his Catholic faith and Olympic travels in chatting up the parents of his intended victims. Do you think there’s a connection between Nassar’s Catholicism and his long trail of helpless female gymnastics victims? Evidently, some are saying Dr. Larry is a muslim. Let us pray for these deluded souls.

    And here’s three hearty cheers for the liberal-FBI-MSM-Deep State-Dunkin’ Donuts conspiracy to get Trump!

  16. After the Boston Marathon bombing the FBI and the DOJ in D C engaged in a massive fraud on the American citizenry. They ran a fake news conference in Boston pretending that the Tsarnaevs were unknown to them. They claimed they needed the public’s help to identify the bombers. A complete lie. At least 20 people in the Boston office knew who they were within a day of the event. Who was the FBI Director when this sham was perpetrated? Surprise. Surprise. Deep State Mueller. Who held a top spot in the DOJ? Deep State Comey. See their picture in Wikipedia hatching their plot. That one incident discloses their degraded character. 2. Some seem to be confused about when Mueller became FBI Director. It was August 2001. He was in charge many months before Connolly was tried in Boston. He could have prevented the injustice and stopped the trial. He didn’t. He joined the Deep State conspiracy and promulgated the bogus ROGUE AGENT theory. He was the Godfather of that concoction. Connolly was found not guilty of the serious charges yet was given a ten year sentence by a dishonest judge on the minor charges. Mueller and the prosecution suggested a harsh sentence when Mueller knew at all times Connolly followed FBI guidelines in handling TEIs. A cruel injustice was imposed on Connolly 3. Mueller could have stopped the false trial in Miami in 2008. He didn’t. He assisted in this prosecutorial misconduct during the trial and the appeal. Comey, Mueller and Wyshak were all part of the Deep State’s framing of Connolly and Rico. Mueller was FBI Director until almost 2014. 4. These same bad actors framed Flynn in 2017. The leopard doesn’t change his spots. But their time is coming. When the entire truth comes out about the fraudulent FISA warrants and the illegal system wide spying on the Trump campaign justice may be finally done. America has an enemy within. The Deep State.

  17. https://www.eslaw.com/william-m-connolly/

    The Hon. William M. Connolly is a retired Nebraska Supreme Court Judge who joined Erickson | Sederstrom with a practice focused on Mediation and Arbitration. With over 22 years on the bench and authoring over 800 opinions along with participating in over 4,000 appellate decisions, Judge Connolly is uniquely qualified. Judge Connolly is adept and experienced in handling business disputes, employment matter disputes, trust and estate disputes, product liability disputes and domestic relations disputes. As an experienced trial attorney with 29 years of experience, Judge Connolly represented both plaintiffs and defendants. He tried more than 75 jury trials to conclusion and hundreds of bench trials. Because of his experience and expertise, he was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1988. He is an Active Panelist of the American Arbitration Association and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

  18. Here’s how the guilt by association works in reverse. DEMOCRATS WILL NOT CONDEMN THOSE WHO HUNG AROUND WITH AND WERE PALS OF NOTORIOUS PEDOPHILES LIKE JEFFREY EPSTEIN. Clinton flew on his plane 26 times, Dershowitz visited pedophile Island . . . shoulda, coulda they have stopped Epstein.

    And what about that notorious gymnastic doctor the Muslim Larrry Nasser who molested scores of teenage girls . . .is Michigan State and the Olympic Officials all guilty by association? Or is it only Christian pastors who the guilty by association canard applies.

    And how about that close friend of the Clinton’s Anthony Weiner or their other close friend Harvey Weinstein, why not condemn all the Democratic Pols and all the Hollywood Moguls, and the Media collaborators with Charlie Rose, Mark Halperin

    No, the LEFTISTS, only impute “guilt by association” to the Church, to Christians, to Conservatives.

    Get off your hypocritical high horses . . .enough of the MAFIA MALARKEY

    MAFIA = leftist Media, Academia, Feds, Internationalists, and Amoralists

    Internetionalists include imperialists and interventionists

    Amoralists include the Atheistic Antagonists, many of whom work in the Media and some in Hollywood!

    Thanks William for these insights.

    Remember there is a Supreme Court Justice in Nebraska named William Connolly and from what has been written herein and on other blogs I suspect he is him!

  19. Wa-llahi! Paco Dos has just gotten a taste of Chilean class struggle. The Chile’s proletariat is awakened, and, angry. Karadim, and, Barros, both had close relations with the Pinochet regime. There’s get-back coming for the bourgeois churchmen’s support of the fascist state. The Church has a problem in Chile. The wealthy conservative elites of the country see the Church’s social role, as, helping them control Chilean society. The masses hate, and, despise, their economic bettors, and, see the Church as a revolutionary force for social justice. The sex charges are just the surface of a much bigger political issue. The Pope is trying to walk a fine line.

  20. /ditto But this Neither Cardinal Law nor Bishop Barrios did anything wrong . . . the mudslingers, the mudslingers, usually leftist like the Globe, impugn character by saying “They should have done more. . . . they should have known . . . . they shoulda, coulda . . . . . . .” It’s the worst form of REVISIONISTIC DEFAMATION..

    The Pope is correct! I’m on his side.

    I am also 100% supportive of President Donald Trump who gavethe Best pro-life message ever to the Pro-Life Marchers in Washington a few days before their annual march. God bless the Pope and President Trump!

    • No, Bill. The high clergy in Chile actively supported the Allende coup, and, gave absolution to the functionaries of Pinochet’s murder machine. At times, they lent church properties to the torturers. In Chile, among the whites, ethnicity is unimportant. Social class is everything. The child sex abuse issue was being used politically. The Pope was in a tight spot.

    • Did Trump mention the many abortions he funded in his younger days? That would have been a more credible legitimization (that’s my word for the day) of his ongoing reformation. I wish he had touched upon it.

      If people think our current Papa is bad, grab a copy of The Bad Popes by E.R. Chamberlin and strap yourself in. Donald Trump’s life runs along frighteningly similar roads as one Medici in particular. I just hope his reign doesn’t end with The Sack Of Rome.

  21. Hello Matt Happy Birthday Kathleen from the Concannon Clan. We all thought you were at least 41. Due to the Government Shutdown your gift will probably be late in arriving. Slainte

    • Jimmy. Kathleen said,,,,”Thanks Jimmy. I was surprised when your gift didn’t come and was wondering where it was? Thanks for reminding me about the shut down which must have delayed it.”. Slainte

  22. Matt, as you said ” nunc infirma + Diaboli adegit “. Mr. Codys class Boston English 1957 .

    • 251:

      What I said was “semper ubi sub ubi.’

      • Matt,I’m sorry did you say, ” semper in Mundas interulus” . Let’s get together for coffee soon? I wish they had Google back in 57 I would have passed Latin

  23. Sede vacante.