The latest issue of Catholic World Report (CWR) has an article on former Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano outlining his scandalous acceptance of bribes and covering up sexual abuse. His name may mean angel, but he's a fallen one. Cardinal Sodano was a major enabler of Marcel Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, who lived a double life of sexual promiscuity while masquerading as a living saint. The man had the sensibilities of a lobbyist bribing a politician with cash and goodies galore. And Sodano was apparently happy to take them.The CWR article is based to a large degree on Jason Berry's in-depth analysis in the National Catholic Reporter (NCR). NCR, which is a liberal rag, must be loving it! But in this case, they are doing the same job as the anti-Catholic Boston Globe did for the sex abuse scandals, i.e., lancing the boil. It needs to be done.
The Vatican must clean out the corruption and begin the healing. The smoke of Satan has, indeed, invaded the sanctuary and we're all choking to death as a result. As First Things says, Sodano has got to go! Maciel continues to poison the Church from the grave. And a good warning to cardinals and bishops in the future is if someone is passing out expensive goodies to the movers and shakers of the Church, what's he want in return? But even more central, why are you accepting them? Do what Thomas More did in The Man for All Seasons when a woman tried to bribe him to rule favorably in her case -- refuse it or immediately give it away. It's not worth selling yourself for a bottle of expensive wine or a Mercedes.
Here's the scoop:
Money paved way for Maciel's influence in the Vatican by Jason Berry in NCR
Archbishop of Vienna accuses one of Pope’s closest aides of abuse cover-up in The London Times
The Cost of Father Maciel in First Things
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