When evil was afoot in the Church during the past few decades, one did not have to look far to spot the hoof prints of Cardinal McCarrick. Phil Lawler at Catholic Culture details how McCarrick sought to give protection to pro-abort Catholic politicians:
Having heard McCarrick’s report, the assembled bishops moved on to consideration of an election-year statement, Catholics in Political Life. Despite the recommendation of the McCarrick committee, the full body of bishops did not recommend against denying Communion to abortion supporters. Instead the bishops decided that “such decisions rest with the individual bishop in accord with the established canonical and pastoral principles. Bishops can legitimately make different judgments on the most prudent course of pastoral action.”
Although the conference as a whole had not approved the suggestion of the McCarrick committee, the report from that committee remained posted on the web site of the US bishops’ conference. The letter from Cardinal Ratzinger was not posted. McCarrick said that Ratzinger had requested that his letter be kept confidential. That, too, was apparently false.
Two weeks after the US bishops’ meeting, a veteran Vatican journalist, Sandro Magister of L’Espresso, posted the full text of Cardinal Ratzinger’s letter. The contents of that letter, the London Daily Telegraph remarked, “hugely embarrassed Cardinal McCarrick.” The future Pope had not said what McCarrick claimed he said. And as a result of McCarrick’s misleading report to his colleagues, the liberal British Catholic weekly, The Tablet, reported: “America’s bishops have chosen not to follow Vatican guidelines over the distribution of Communion to pro-abortion politicians.”
In fact, Cardinal Ratzinger had written, if a Catholic is a prominent supporter of legal abortion, and persists in that support despite private admonitions from his bishop, when he presents himself for Communion, “the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it.” [emphasis added]
Go here to read the rest.
Who needs wolves when so many of the shepherds are the source of the ravishing?
Terrible decision–do what you think is best–is no decision at all. Firm good direction from the Vatican 9and the USCCB) have been lacking since Vatican II, that is, till Francis came along. Now we are getting firm bad direction.
Yet another piece of evidence supporting the dissolution of the USCCB.
Wuerl was another scammer on this issue.
Adjacent to the topic, just what’s the value-added of these confabs the bishops have? Send out a 600 word pastoral letter placed as an insert in the week’s parish bulletins and you accomplish more with less time on task.
The daily Mass readings for Wednesday August 19, 2020 first reading, Ez 34:1-11, is a denunciation of the shepherds of Israel who pasture themselves, instead of pasturing the sheep. It really speaks to the problems of the Church.