"Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known."
Purple Catholic Saturday Post
Good morning everyone and happy Saturday. Thank you for reading the Saturday Post from the Purple Catholic.
I try to do my best to share solid publications that do good reporting and the Pillar has made a significant effort to investigate abuse within the Church. Because of that, I would urge everyone to read Ed. Condon’s “Never again” piece in the Pillar this week and JD Flynn’s Tuesday Pillar Post.
They are the only outlet reporting on a story in Argentina where a priest had gone through two diocesean tribunals for allegations of sexual abuse and was then laicized. The Pillar reported that sostituto Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra (essentially the “chief of staff” to Pope Francis) attempted to intervene and declare the laiciziation as null and void.
Consequently, the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, the only Vatican office aside from His Holiness himself that has the authority to rule on abuse cases, stepped in and declared that Archbishop Peña Parra’s actions were illicit and void.
One of two things must be true here. One: Archbishop Peña Parra attempted to overstep his authority to stop the laiciziation of a priest who has been twice convicted of sexual abuse. Or Two: He was acting under the orders of Pope Francis, who can legitimately step in, but failed to mention that in his order to the Diocese of de la Concepción del Río Cuarto.
John Allen, Jr., a Vatican insider who reports at his outlet Crux, became the first outside the Pillar to provide analysis this week. Unfortunately he completely missed the mark. Rather than break down what could be going on behind the scenes, he seemd to float what could be potential Vatican defense to explain why Archbishop Peña Parra did as he did.
He chalked up to Vatican politics saying the Secretariat of State’s office and the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith are merely having a turf war or that Rome could simply be trying to look out for one of Pope Francis’ countrymen. Maybe both are possible?
The problem is where his analysis takes a dark turn when he opines that he knows better than two tribunals who have found this priest guilty. Allen says this: “it’s not entirely clear how guilty Príncipi really is.”
His analysis and explination has the odor of the exucses that were made during the coverups of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. This priest in Argentina was reportedly groping individuals under the guise of providng “sexual deliverance.” Allen, instead, claimed that perhaps the priest didn’t mean for it to be abuse and therefore Archbishop Peña Parra was stepping into ensure that the “death penalty” (Allen’s words, not mine) was not reached. Allen seems to ignore the fact that this priest’s actions fall completely into the typical, manipulative tactices that are utilized by abusers.
It is unfortunate becuase I have frequently shared John Allen, Jr. here on the Saturday Posts. His analyses of the happenings in Rome are typically insightful and informative. This one, however, misses the mark completely.
Ed. Condon and JD Flynn go into much further detail but the bottom line is this: abuse has no place in the Church and, as an institution in the United States, dioceses have generally done a good job to root it out and ensure that the scandals of the last century never happen again. But in order to do that there must be good investigative reporting. The Pillar does that and I encourage you to read and subscribe.
Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
This week we are entering the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time. This Sunday is the Solemnity of Christ the King and we will hear readings from Daniel 7:13-14, Psalm 93, Revelation 1:5-8, and John 18:33-37.
In the Liturgy of the Hours, we are in Psalter Week II. In the Office of Readings we are reading from the book of Revelation, the Second Letter of St. Peter, and the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians.
Here is a calendar for the rest of the week:
Monday, 24 November - Memorial of St. Catherine of Alexandria, virgin and martyr (optional)
Saturday, 30 November - Feast of St. Andrew, apostle
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming!
Mark 11:9-10
In the news:
The United States
Profile on Trump’s Catholic border czar - The National Catholic Register
Diocese of Columbus, Ohio establishes Order of Widows, an early Church practice - Aleteia
Conclave is even worse than The DaVinci Code, it’s a progressive fantasy - Matthew Schmitz in the Atlantic
The Vatican
Pope: Schools should be centers of formation, not “achievement factories” - Catholic News Service
The World
A Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest on 1,000 days of war - America Magazine
What’s the deal with that new liturgy in Mexico? - The Pillar
Swiss church installs “AI Jesus” in confessional - The Pillar
Have a good weekend,
Matthew