… continued The motivation for retired Archbishop Viganó’s dramatic lefter of attack on Pope Francis may also have to do with the set of people the Pope has promoted in the Church. They included Bishop McElroy of San Diego, Cardinal Cupich of Chicago, Cardinal Wuerl of Washington D.C. and Cardinal Tobin of Newark, men of whom Viganó apparently strongly dislikes. The lefter alleged that former Cardinal McCarrick somehow “ orchestrated ” the selection of bishops for promotion, blinded by a gay ideology. Viganó sees that ideology as the root of the sex abuse crisis in the Church. According to journalist Edward Pentin, “ Viganó has gone into hiding and fears for his life following the publication of his testimony. ” Italian blogger Aldo Maria Valli says Viganó told him he is leaving the country, his mobile phone number will no longer work and he has said goodbye for the last time. As of this writing, Viganó has not re – appeared in public. The most serious accusation in the lefter against Pope Francis is the Viganó claim that in 2013 he told Francis about the misdeeds Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had with seminarians, but that Francis lifted sanctions placed on McCarrick by Pope Benedict and restored him to a position of influence in the Church. If that is true, then the natural question is: why should the sanctions on McCarrick have been secret and there fore easy to reverse? If McCarrick was banned from public ministry from 2009 to 2013 during the time of Pope Benedict, then how could McCarrick disregard the ban by publicly celebrating Mass, raising money for the Church, represent the Church in prominent foreign diplomatic efforts in China and Iran, and give speeches and homilies as he did? The lefter alleged that some of Pope Benedict ’ s most powerful advisors shielded McCarrick. Most Catholics agree that investigation into these matters is in order. Tens of thousands of American Catholic men and women have reacted by signing letters as king for investigation, clarity and additional response from Pope Francis. Many bishops have issued similar statements, some have spoken in defense of Pope Francis and others have been supportive of Viganó. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the US bishops ’ conference, is expected to travel to Rome to request a high – level Vatican inquiry into the McCarrick case. Bishop Silva of Honolulu said “ Obviously this is a time of great crisis for our Church, and we pray that it will be an occasion for complete repentance and purification. While this causes much anger and disillusionment to all of us, I ask you to be extremely careful not to allow Satan to achieve his desire of dividing and destroying the Catholic Church, which always remains the beloved bride of Christ. Be strong in your faith, and share that faith in Jesus Christ with others, because he is the way, the truth, and the life. ”
