Top-Ranking Vatican Insider Accuses Francis I of a Cover-Up

Top Ranking Vatican Insider Accuses Francis I of a Cover Up, PDF format

A Bombshell Allegation against the Roman Pope – from One of His Own

As the massive global scandal of thousands of Roman Catholic priests having sexually abused tens of thousands of children and adults continues to grow, a potential bombshell has been dropped by an archbishop against his pope, Francis I.  On 25 August 2018, Carlo Maria Viganò, a retired 77-year-old archbishop who had been the Vatican nuncio (ambassador) to the United States under popes Benedict and Francis, a man who has been described as a top-ranking Vatican “insider”, released an open letter in which he alleged that Francis knew, five years ago already, about the sexual molestation of seminarians (young male students for the priesthood) by a former cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, because he himself (Viganò) had told him about it in June 2013.

McCarrick reportedly invited seminarians to his beach house, and shared a bed with them.  By the late 1990s the sordid truth had become an open secret among the Roman Catholics of New Jersey, where McCarrick was archbishop, and was regularly discussed by priests and nuns there.[1]

Essentially, “McCarrick was using the Catholic seminary at Seton Hall as a harem.  His boy-toys were given rapid promotions.  Those not into [sodomy] were shunted aside.  McCarrick’s power was such that even men not in his ‘circle’ were afraid to come forward.  Sadly, this is not news.  Nearly 20 years ago, a book titled Goodbye Good Men documented how some seminaries were gay clubs that screened out… and forced out… normal men.”[2]

McCarrick resigned from the College of Cardinals – a step described as “very shocking, very unusual, hasn’t happened in decades”[3] – following a ruling in June on two of the allegations against him by a New York archdiocesan tribunal, which judged that the allegations were “credible.”

There has not yet been any civil court trial or judgment on any of the accusations against him;[4] and a man is innocent until proven guilty.  Nevertheless, Viganò’s allegations must be taken very seriously.  And yet what did Francis do after the allegations against McCarrick were made known?  He did… absolutely nothing.  He ignored the thick dossier against one of his cardinals.

In the light of this, Viganò in his open letter actually urged the Roman pope to resign!  And not unexpectedly, the archbishop’s allegations threw the Vatican of Francis into a major crisis, with pro-Francis prelates scrambling wildly to contain the damage as the ripples spread out across the globe.

Viganò’s Open Letter: Crimes, a Conspiracy of Silence, and Corruption at the Highest Vatican Levels

In his open letter Viganò wrote: “Bishops and priests, abusing their authority, have committed horrendous crimes to the detriment of their faithful, minors, innocent victims, and young men eager to offer their lives to the Church [of Rome], or by their silence have not prevented that such crimes continue to be perpetrated.”[5]  In this of course he was 100% correct.  It has always been true, through the centuries.  There is nothing new in it.  But in recent decades it has exploded in the world media.  The evidence is overwhelming, from around the world: multiplied thousands of priests have been involved in the sexual abuse of children, and of adults.

Then he wrote: “we must have the courage to tear down the culture of secrecy and publicly confess the truths we have kept hidden.  We must tear down the conspiracy of silence with which bishops and priests have protected themselves at the expense of their faithful, a conspiracy of silence… not so dissimilar from the one that prevails in the mafia.”  There most certainly is a massive conspiracy of silence within the Vatican and all the structures of the worldwide Roman Catholic priesthood, to protect themselves from what has in fact gone on for centuries, and has always been a terrible consequence of the devilish doctrine of enforced celibacy for priests (1 Tim. 4:-1-3).  1 Cor. 7:2 says, “to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.”  There is absolutely nothing new in this conspiracy of silence within the priesthood of Rome; all that is new is that never before in history has it been brought to the light as it has now, in this age of mass media.

Viganò went on to state: “But now that the corruption has reached the very top of the Church’s hierarchy, my conscience dictates that I reveal those truths regarding the heart-breaking case of the Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, D.C., Theodore McCarrick, which I came to know in the course of duties entrusted to me by St. John Paul II… and by Pope Benedict XVI, as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America, from October 19, 2011 until the end of May 2016.”  And this is precisely what he proceeded to do in his open letter.  Let us therefore look at the allegations he made:

Viganò’s Allegations about McCarrick, His Pro-Homosexual Prelate-Buddies, and the Homosexual Networks within the Priesthood

Theodore McCarrick allegedly committed the sexual abuse of seminarians when he was the Romish archbishop of Newark.  Rumours and allegations of his behaviour had circulated for many years.  In 2006 a priest, Gregory Littleton, wrote an indictment memorandum against McCarrick, in which he recounted the sexual abuse.  He sent this memorandum to both civil and religious authorities, including police and lawyers.  Viganò, as Delegate for Pontifical Representatives in 2006, had to write up a memo on Littleton’s documents.  In doing so, he also wrote to his superiors at the time, the cardinal Tarcisio Bertone and the substitute, Leonardo Sandri.  In writing to them he said that the facts attributed to McCarrick by Littleton “were of such gravity and vileness as to provoke bewilderment, a sense of disgust, deep sorrow and bitterness in the reader, and that they constituted the crimes of seducing, requesting depraved acts of seminarians and priests, repeatedly and simultaneously with several people, derision of a young seminarian who tried to resist the Archbishop’s [McCarrick’s] seductions in the presence of two other priests, absolution of the accomplices in these depraved acts, sacrilegious celebration of the Eucharist with the same priests after committing such acts.”[6]

Viganò proposed that an exemplary measure be taken against McCarrick.  However, he said that his memo was kept by his superiors, and no decision was returned to him by them.

Then in 2008, Viganò delivered a new memo to the new substitute, Fernando Filoni, which included his previous memo of 2006.  He stated that McCarrick should be removed from being a cardinal, and subjected to the sanctions found in the Vatican’s Code of Canon Law.  But again, this memo was kept by his superiors, and nothing was done about McCarrick at the time.

Finally, however, Viganò learned that the pope, Benedict XVI, had imposed sanctions on McCarrick, sometime in 2009 or 2010.  He had to leave the seminary where he was living, was forbidden to celebrate the mass in public, and forbidden to give lectures or to travel.  Thus it took years for the Vatican to act against McCarrick at all.  Viganò was convinced the delay was because of the cardinal, Tarcisio Bertone.  Viganò wrote: “I believe it was due to the Pope’s first collaborator at the time, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who notoriously favoured promoting homosexuals into positions of responsibility”.  Viganò specifically mentioned, by name, just such an archbishop promoted by Bertone.

Viganò thus stated what has in fact been an open secret, not just for years or decades but truly for centuries: that the priesthood of Rome is riddled with homosexuals.  This is not at all surprising, given the fact that Rome forbids its priests from marrying, which encourages homosexuals to enter the priesthood, where they have plenty of opportunities to indulge in their unnatural lusts, in the seminaries and then later with fellow priests, or with men or boys they seduce via the confessional.

In his open letter, Viganò stated it was known that the cardinal, Angelo Sodano, who was the Vatican’s secretary of state until September 2006, tried to cover up another scandal involving a priest.  He stated that McCarrick would have been protected by Sodano.  McCarrick, despite the sanctions imposed on him, was a high flyer, frequently travelling to Rome and with many friends.

Viganò also stated in the open letter that the current Vatican secretary of state, the cardinal Pietro Parolin, was also complicit in covering up McCarrick’s sins.  According to him McCarrick, far from being subject to the sanctions imposed by Benedict, was, under Francis, boasting openly of his travels and missions to various continents.  When Viganò wrote to Parolin and asked if the sanctions Benedict had imposed on McCarrick were still valid, he received no reply.

Furthermore, Viganò named a number of other cardinals and archbishops who, he stated, knew the true facts regarding McCarrick.  And again he referred to the homosexuality rife within the high ranks of the Vatican: “As far as the Roman Curia is concerned, for the moment I will stop here, even if the names of other prelates in the Vatican are well known, even some very close to Pope Francis, such as Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio and Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who belong to the homosexual current in favor of subverting Catholic doctrine on homosexuality…. Cardinals Edwin Frederick O’Brien and Renato Raffaele Martino also belong to the same current, albeit with a different ideology.  Others belonging to this current even reside at the Domus Sanctae Marthae.”[7]

Another high-ranking prelate fingered by Viganò as having been well aware of Benedict’s measures against McCarrick, was McCarrick’s successor in the see of Washington, the cardinal Donald Wuerl.  Viganò stated that he himself brought the subject up with Wuerl, and it was clear the latter was fully aware of it.  Viganò in his letter accused Wuerl of being a liar for claiming that he knew nothing of McCarrick’s sexual abuses, or of Benedict’s measures against McCarrick.  Viganò stated that Wuerl transgressed Benedict’s order, and even allowed McCarrick to reside at a seminary in Washington, D.C., thereby putting seminarians at risk.

He also named two others: a bishop named Paul Bootkoski and an archbishop named John Meyers, both in the U.S., who he claimed covered up McCarrick’s abuses in their dioceses, and compensated two of his victims.

Viganò wrote: “The seriousness of homosexual behaviour [in the “Church” of Rome] must be denounced.  The homosexual networks present in the Church must be eradicated, as Janet Smith, Professor of Moral Theology at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, recently wrote.  ‘The problem of clergy abuse,’ she wrote, ‘cannot be resolved simply by the resignation of some bishops, and even less so by bureaucratic directives.  The deeper problem lies in homosexual networks within the clergy which must be eradicated.’”[8]

To which Viganò added: “These homosexual networks, which are now widespread in many dioceses, seminaries, religious orders, etc., act under the concealment of secrecy and lies with the power of octopus tentacles, and strangle innocent victims and priestly vocations, and are strangling the entire Church.”  Strong words, yet he was absolutely correct, except in thinking that these networks are only “now” widespread – they have always been there, for centuries.  But now they are being exposed as never before.  This is a very good thing, as it shows the world what the Roman Catholic priesthood is: a secretive society riddled with sexual predators, especially homosexual ones.  Protestants have said the very same thing through the centuries, but have always been dismissed, criticised and mocked by Romanists as lying about their “holy” priests; but now in the providence of God the truth is being forced out even from the mouths of some of the highest-ranking men within the Vatican hierarchy.

It remains to be seen what the final outcome of all these revelations will be.

Viganò’s Statements about the Jesuits:

Liberal/Socialist/Marxist/Pro-Sodomite

Viganò stated: “These characters [the men he named as being part of the “homosexual current” within the priesthood] are closely associated with individuals belonging in particular to the deviated wing of the Society of Jesus, unfortunately today a majority”.[9]  He was wrong in calling it “the deviated wing” of the Jesuits, because in truth the Jesuits’ present approach to sexual matters, priestly abuse, even Hollywood movies,[10] is not new – it has in fact been very much their policy through the centuries, for it is based on their “Moral Theology”, which permits all kinds of sins if the cause of Rome will be advanced thereby (as I have written about at length[11]).  Francis, as a good Jesuit, is appointing these liberal, pro-sodomite men to top positions regardless of their backgrounds, because he himself is merely following the orders of his own Jesuit General, the man known as the “Black Pope”, the real power behind the Vatican throne.

For evidence of Jesuits who have gone against orthodox Roman Catholic teaching, Viganò cited some examples (dozens more could be given): “We need only consider Father Robert Drinan, S.J., who was elected four times to the House of Representatives, and was a staunch supporter of abortion; or Father Vincent O’Keefe, S.J., one of the principal promoters of The Land O’Lakes Statement of 1967, which seriously compromised the Catholic identity of universities and colleges in the United States.”   “Father James Martin, S.J., acclaimed by the people mentioned above, in particular Cupich, Tobin, Farrell and McElroy, appointed Consular of the Secretariat for Communications, well-known activist who promotes the LGBT agenda, chosen to corrupt the young people who will soon gather in Dublin for the World Meeting of Families, is nothing but a sad recent example of that deviated wing of the Society of Jesus.”  Yes, the Jesuits have for a long time been heavily in favour of Communism, Socialism, liberalism, even sodomite “rights”, and have been pushing the Vatican increasingly in that direction, politically, socially and morally.

Viganò’s Allegations against the Pope, Francis I: He Knew and Did Nothing, and Should Resign

All of these allegations amounted to a massive potential bombshell against the “Church” of Rome.  But it was what this Romish archbishop said about the pope himself that caused the greatest stir.  Stating that he was ready to reaffirm what he was claiming under oath, Viganò said that he met Francis in the Vatican just three months after he had become pope in 2013.  First he bumped into McCarrick the cardinal, who allegedly said to Viganò triumphantly, “The pope received me yesterday, tomorrow I am going to China.”  In other words, he was under no papal censure for his sinful sexual behaviour.  Viganò stated that McCarrick and Francis had been friends for a very long time, and that McCarrick had played an important role in Francis’ election as pope.

When he met Francis the next day, Viganò alleged, the pope spoke to him in an aggressive and upbraiding way, saying, “The bishops in the United States must not be ideologized!  They must be shepherds!”  At another meeting, Francis told Viganò: “the bishops in the United States must not be ideologized, they must not be right-wing… and they must not be left-wing – and when I say left-wing I mean homosexual.”  He also asked Viganò what he thought of McCarrick, and Viganò replied that McCarrick had corrupted generations of seminarians and priests, and that Benedict had ordered him to withdraw to a life of prayer and penance.  To which, he said, Francis gave no reply at all.

Viganò added that McCarrick had used almost exactly the same words about the U.S. bishops as Francis had, when McCarrick spoke to a monsignor named Jean-Francois Lantheaume, some time before Francis spoke as he did to Viganò; thereby showing that McCarrick had put the words into Francis’ mouth before he met Viganò.

He also stated that McCarrick, under Francis, became “kingmaker for appointments in the Curia and the United States, and the most listened to advisor in the Vatican for relations with the Obama administration.”  Furthermore, Francis placed his own favourites in top hierarchical positions, including men such as the Wuerl, Blase Cupich and Joseph W. Tobin.  He stated: “The appointments of [Cupich and Tobin] to Newark were orchestrated by [cardinals] McCarrick, Maradiaga and Wuerl, united by a wicked pact of abuses by the first, and at least of coverup of abuses by the other two.”  Cupich, said Viganò, denied the open evidence that 80% of the abuses found were committed against young adults by homosexuals.  Cupich asserted that the main problem in the priestly sexual abuse crisis was not homosexuality, but rather “clericalism”.  And yet the evidence was certainly on Viganò’s side.

Viganò called on Francis to state when he first learned about McCarrick’s crimes.  He pointed out that in any case he (Viganò) had told the pope about McCarrick in June 2013; yet Francis continued to cover for McCarrick, ignoring the sanctions his predecessor, Benedict, had imposed on McCarrick, and in fact made him his trusted counsellor, along with the cardinal, Rodriguez Maradiaga.  This cardinal, when dozens of seminarians appealed to him for help after one of them attempted suicide over homosexual abuse in the seminary, dismissed it all as “gossip”.

Viganò concluded his open letter with the following:

“If this is rightly to be considered a serious moral responsibility for every believer, how much graver is it for the Church’s supreme pastor [the pope of Rome, Francis I], who in the case of McCarrick not only did not oppose evil but associated himself in doing evil with someone he knew to be deeply corrupt.  He followed the advice of someone he knew well to be a pervert, thus multiplying exponentially with his supreme authority the evil done by McCarrick.  And how many other evil pastors is Francis still continuing to prop up in their active destruction of the Church!… In this extremely dramatic moment for the universal Church, he must acknowledge his mistakes and… Francis must be the first to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarrick’s abuses and resign along with all of them.”

The Backlash against Viganò from Implicated Prelates, Pro-Francis Prelates, and the Jesuits

As was to be expected, the backlash against Viganò’s open letter, as his allegations spread via the internet worldwide, was enormous.

There were the refutations by various men implicated by Viganò.  Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago implicated in Viganò’s document, wrote an article in response, naturally enough disputing the allegations strongly.

Likewise, the cardinals Joseph Tobin and Donald Wuerl, also implicated in Viganò’s testimony, responded negatively, denying the allegations, etc.  In fact, not only did Tobin issue his denial, but he lost no time in saying that when he arrived in Newark two years before to lead the archdiocese, no one bothered to tell him that “Church” lawyers had secretly arranged to pay $180 000 to settle two claims of sexual abuse against his predecessor, Theodore McCarrick.  He claimed he was embarrassed and shocked.  And he stated that he was launching an internal investigation into why he was not told, and had even hired an investigative firm to examine the archdiocesan files on sex abuse.[12]

As for Wuerl, as this cardinal and archbishop of Washington addressed the priestly sex abuse scandal in a religious service on Sunday, 2 September, in the wake of the Viganò allegations, “apologising” for what he called his “errors in judgment” and “inadequacies” and urging the people to pray for the pope who was “increasingly… the object of animosity”, one man in the service shouted, “Shame on you!” and walked out, and a woman turned her back on Wuerl in protest.

Huge numbers of Roman Catholics are angry with their priests and bishops.  Very angry.  And the anger is growing.  And yet, incredible as it may appear to non-Papists, although there is this growing anger and disgust, there are still multiplied millions of Roman Catholics who remain loyal to their bishops and priests, and utterly loyal Roman Catholics.  Such is the vice-like hold this evil religion has on its adherents.  When Wuerl ended his address at the service in which one man walked out and a woman turned her back on him, most of the congregation clapped for Wuerl!  And as they left the service they shook his hand and offered sentiments of support.

Not surprisingly, Viganò’s character came under attack.  This is the usual “shoot the messenger” approach of Rome.  He was almost immediately accused of lacking credibility, because he himself was alleged to have mishandled a case of alleged sexual abuse of an archbishop in Minneapolis, by blocking an investigation into it and suggesting that correspondence relating to it be destroyed.  Viganò denied these allegations.[13]

The point, however, is this: whether he did or did not mishandle the case, his allegations in his open letter stand or fall on their own merits!  As journalist Rod Dreher put it, who has studied these matters in detail: “Yes, he did this [i.e. covered up the investigation].  Shame on him.  This makes Vigano a hypocrite, but not a liar.”[14]  Absolutely correct.  Perhaps indeed, as Dreher claimed, Viganò was involved in a cover-up at one point.  But this did not mean he was lying when he wrote his open letter!  All that matters is: are the accusations he made credible?  In all honesty, it has to be said that they are.  He would have been a fool to have named names, made such accusations, etc., at this stage in his life and knowing the backlash he would experience, unless he believed that what he alleged was the truth.  The fact simply is that the evidence against McCarrick is extensive.  As reported in an Associated Press story in late August after the allegations were made, “The historic record is rife with evidence that McCarrick had lived under no such [Papal] restrictions.  He travelled widely…. He celebrated Mass publicly.”[15]

Viganò was also accused of perhaps having a personal vendetta against Francis.  But as Roman Catholic Vatican watcher and editor of Inside the Vatican magazine, Robert Moynihan, put it: “I believe such factors may play a role in these events, but not the principal role.  The way Vigano has written his letter is at times emotional, but is also written in a way that speaks to ecclesial issues, not to his own personal issues.  I would exclude this as a major factor.”[16]  And as journalist Rod Dreher said: “It is undeniable that Vigano has personal motive to strike out at his enemies within the Curia…. but again, motive is beside the point.  Are the allegations true?”[17]  This is all that matters.

What about the possibility that Viganò was serving someone else, some group or lobby, and was therefore “put up” to writing the letter?  Perhaps, it was suggested, the “old guard” in the Curia feel threatened in their positions by Francis, or perhaps Viganò wished to become the leader of such a group, perhaps even become pope himself.  To these things Moynihan wrote: “Vigano comes from an old and wealthy Catholic Milanese family; he has no need of personal wealth, so there seems to me little likelihood that he would act as anyone’s ‘agent’ in this matter; I do not think he has been ‘paid off.’  I would exclude that idea.  I think he is acting in prima persona – as an independent agent.  I could be wrong.  And I do not know if he has allies, and if so, who they might be.  But I would exclude that he is acting for others, as a ‘stalking horse.’”

Moynihan may be wrong about Viganò acting alone.  Time will tell, but it appears very likely he was acting as the spokesman for secret but powerful allies.  And yes, it is certain that high-ranking, anti-Francis prelates within the Vatican hierarchy do feel threatened by Francis and the direction he is taking the “Church” of Rome, and they may have found in Viganò a mouthpiece for their anger and their own agenda.  This makes perfect sense, and indeed would appear very likely.  But Moynihan was surely correct in saying that Viganò did not do it for the money, nor from any desire to become pope himself.

Francis’ Own (Non)Reaction to Viganò’s Allegations

Without doubt the most interesting, and significant, reaction was from the pope of Rome himself.  He told reporters: “Read [Viganò’s letter] attentively and make your own judgment.  I will not say a word about this.”[18]  And, true to his word, he kept his mouth obstinately and tightly shut in the days that followed, as the scandal swirled all around him and his evil, lecherous henchmen.

Days later, in a homily he gave, Francis said, “the truth is humble, the truth is silent.”  Many believed it was an oblique reference to, and justification for, his silence after the Viganò allegations.  But… nothing more.

It is surely quite obvious that Francis believed the Viganò allegations were true.  Only this could explain his silence!

Jesuit Reaction

As for the Jesuits, as was to be expected they rallied behind their man, their favourite son, the Jesuit pope.  Mere days after the Viganò allegations broke, a Jesuit priest named Antonio Spadaro, editor of the influential Jesuit publication, Civilta Cattolica, who is also a close advisor to Francis I, stated on his Facebook page: “The tragedy has become a farce.  The accusations are by now a broken record…. The Vigano statement appears for what it is.  Some very desperate interests (pseudo-Catholic American media are involved…) are already revealed…. Some shepherds are shown to be wolves…. Where there is man or woman there is always a shadow (I am referring here to those who raised up this mess against the Church, the Viganò thing, which is just evil…).”[19]

The pro-Francis Jesuit magazine, America, certainly not siding with Viganò, said the pope should give some proper answer to his allegations: “Francis’ refusal to respond to the Viganò accusations… is an insufficient pastoral response for a church that is deeply wounded,” its editors wrote.[20]  But this response was because this Jesuit publication had to say something.  If not, it would have appeared too supportive, which would not be to its own credit, or to the public image of the Jesuit Order.  Jesuits always say what the people want to hear, even if the men of the Order believe something entirely different.  Therefore, nothing should be read into this response about any possible division in the Jesuit ranks over Francis.  It is an entirely Jesuitical response.  “All things to all men.”  This has always been the Jesuit motto.

Does Viganò Have Evidence?

What about Viganò producing actual evidence to support his claims?  His enemies demanded this of him.  But journalist Rod Dreher writes correctly on this point: “From 1998 to 2009, Vigano was in charge of the Vatican office overseeing all the Vatican nunciatures (embassies) around the world.  From 2011 to 2016, he ran the Washington nunciature.  He claimed in his statement: ‘All the memos, letters and other documentation mentioned here are available at the Secretariat of State of the Holy See or at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C.’  I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for the Vatican or the DC nunciature to release those documents.  Still, keep in mind that Vigano was a senior Vatican diplomat who was in a position to have all this knowledge, and to see the documents.  His extraordinary claims in the statement over the weekend ought to be investigated, but to say you won’t credit him until and unless he hands over documents is defense not from a position of strength, but from weakness.  If he had been a low-level functionary, such a stance would be more plausible.  But he was at the heart of the Vatican’s office that dealt with such matters.

“Besides, if these Vigano claims were false, it would have been very easy for Pope Francis to have denied them.  Instead… he issued a weird statement claiming that he wouldn’t have a single word to say about it, and calling on reporters to read Vigano’s document and to exercise their ‘journalistic capacity to draw your own conclusions.’  Again: if the allegations are false, you say, ‘They’re false.’  But that’s not what the Pope said.  At all.  If the Pope thinks he can ignore Vigano as he has ignored the dubia cardinals, he is gravely mistaken.”[21]

What the pro-sodomite, pro-Francis priests, bishops, archbishops and cardinals would like to divert everyone’s attention from, is what is most significant in all this; and we must not lose sight of it.  As Roman Catholic journalist and editor, Robert Moynihan has pointed out, Viganò, a high-ranking archbishop, a man close to three popes,  “Is not simply denouncing one or two men… he is denouncing an entire culture of cover-ups and deceit in the Catholic Church.  Vigano is denouncing the existence in the Church today of an influential, mutually supportive, self-protective network of Church prelates who, in alliance with groups outside of the Church, would like to revise perennial Church teaching about human sexuality…. What Vigano has been crying out with great passion is that children have been abused and that the men entrusted with the leadership in our time of Christ’s Church have allowed it, enabled it, turned a blind eye to it – including Francis…. And this present situation, which harms children and which makes a mockery of all of the fine words of Church leaders about their desire to protect children from abuse, cannot continue.  Something must change.  There must be true reform.  This is what Vigano is saying, essentially.  On this fundamental point, he is entirely, courageously, heroically right.”[22]

The Lavender Mafia within the Priesthood:

Powerful, Corrupt, and Dangerous

The truth about the wicked, perverted sexual goings-on within the Roman Catholic hierarchy are facts which have been exposed for many years now, by the multiplied thousands.  There can be no denying them, and I have written about this.[23]

To give just a few other examples:

Recently Edwin Palka, a Roman Catholic priest in Tampa, Florida, wrote that there is a homosexual mafia at work within the Roman Catholic institution:  “Many people still do not understand just how evil the activist homosexual priests and bishops are… they cannot possibly grasp the hellish depths to which these clergy will go to persecute, lambaste, punish, humiliate and blackmail anyone who stands in their way, or threatens their way of life.”  He added that this homosexual mafia was carrying out a reign of terror on “priests who teach the truth about homosexuality.”  Palka stated that the power of the homosexual mafia over priests begins in the seminary.  Students for the priesthood provide detailed information about themselves, and the file on each one continues to grow after they are ordained as priests.  He wrote of real-life scenarios.  For example: “Suppose a priest’s file reveals that as a teen he was sexually abused by an adult male.  As a result of this formative abuse, he struggled with homosexual desires as an adolescent and into his early adulthood, but always remained chaste.  Once ordained as a priest, he spoke out fervently against the acceptance, promotion and legalization of homosexual activity and other sins.  His homosexual activist bishop, knowing his past, makes him a Boy Scout Chaplain, where he will be working closely with the bishop’s handpicked and openly active homosexual lay diocesan Scout leaders, hoping and even encouraging him to finally fail and fall to his boyhood abuse giving in to his homosexual desires to sexually abuse one, or more, of the scouts.”

Palka added: “It is not just homosexual priests who can be manipulated in this way.  A heterosexual priest who has been sexually active before being ordained and who dares to speak out against homosexuality, could similarly be assigned to be the chaplain of a girls high school, in a hope that he would succumb to temptation.”[24]

This fact of what has been referred to as a “lavender mafia” at work within the Roman Catholic institution, which protects the priest-predators who abuse seminarians, teenagers and children, was also affirmed by a priest named Dariusz Oko, in a 2013 essay entitled “With the Pope against Homoheresy.”[25]

Estimates vary of how many priests are homosexuals, but it is very high: most scholars of the issue place the figure as at least 30% to 40%, or even as high as 50% or 60%.  In July, 48 seminarians in Honduras wrote to their bishops of a “homosexual epidemic” in the seminary, following months of allegations about homosexual abuse of seminarians by the auxilliary bishop.  And in Chile, all the country’s bishops offered to resign in the aftermath of a huge child sex scandal and its cover-up, with revelations of a homosexual priestly sex ring involving bishops and others.

That homosexuality is indeed of an epidemic nature within the priesthood of Rome, its seminaries, etc., cannot be doubted.  It is monstrous.  Reporting in 2004 on its study of priestly sex abuse in the United States, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice stated: “80% of the abuse at issue was of a homosexual nature.”

What Is, and Is Not, Going On Here

This is not (as some have thought, including naive and woefully ignorant Protestants) a battle between supposedly “good, decent, conservative” Roman Catholic priests, bishops, archbishops and cardinals trying to prevent priestly sexual abuse, and evil, amoral, liberal priests, bishops, archbishops and cardinals who are committing it.  The plain fact is that abusers are found on both sides of the ideological divide.  In the words of Rod Dreher, who has extensively chronicled the priestly sex abuse scandal: “One of the first truths I learned in covering the abuse scandal in the early 2000s is that the left-right framework is fairly useless as a guide to understanding matters.  Conservative prelates like Cardinal Law covered up, as did liberal prelates like Archbishop Rembert Weakland (who used church money to pay off his gay lover).  If you decide that the only bad guys are on the other side, you commit yourself to believing all manner of lies to maintain that fiction.”[26]

This is not what it is all about.  Not at all.  But it is true that both sides are trying to get as much mileage as they can out of it!  From the conservative side, priests are claiming that the priestly sex abuse scandal worldwide is the result of a lack of enforcement of Rome’s teachings against homosexuality, and of liberal priests who do not live up to those teachings and in fact despise them.  From the liberal side, priests are claiming that the abuse scandal has been caused by hypocritical conservative priests who give lip service to Rome’s teachings but do not live up to them, and commit abuse.  Both sides are correct!  The abuse is committed by both conservative and liberal priests, bishops, archbishops and cardinals.  It always has been.  The only difference is, liberals excuse or even support homosexuality openly, whereas conservatives officially condemn it.  Both, however, practice it.  The cause of the problem is not to be found within conservative or liberal Roman Catholicism.  The cause is to be found in Rome’s vile system of enforced celibacy itself, and in the evil hearts of unregenerate men falsely claiming to be Christ’s servants.

Also, what is most definitely going on here is that the battle lines are being drawn more firmly between conservative and liberal Roman Catholic bishops, archbishops and cardinals, regarding the very Papacy of Francis I himself.  As Robert Moynihan, influential editor of Inside the Vatican, wrote: “many powerful, conservative Catholics in America [we would add, the world – S.W.] are exploiting this revulsion to build what seemed impossible two or three years ago – a popular movement against a popular Pope.”[27]  For conservatives, who hate the Jesuit Francis and his style of leadership, these allegations by Viganò are like manna from heaven.  It is just what they want to advance their agenda of doing all they can to eventually get Francis removed as pope.  They therefore go after every liberal prelate or priest who is found accused of sexual abuse – but at the same time they ignore or massively play down the fact that thousands of conservative prelates and priests have been found guilty of the same sexual abuse as well!

The following is a very true assessment: “AFP said the timing of the letter’s release, amid a landmark [papal] trip to Ireland, has raised speculation of a campaign by conservatives in the church to bring down the progressive pope.  An editorial article on the website of the progressive National Catholic Reporter weekly said: ‘Make no mistake.  This is a coordinated attack on Pope Francis.’”[28] It certainly is.  The tragedy is that tens of thousands of innocent children are being used as disposable pawns in this gigantic power play.

Where is all this going for the Jesuit pope, Francis I?

“Francis, with the highest approval ratings of any recent Pope, is against all expectations, somehow managing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory for his ‘reform agenda.’  This is happening because he has suddenly, unexpectedly, begun to appear as the opposite of a reformer.  He has begun to appear as someone who does not wish to undertake the reforms needed to protect young people, and root out corruption in the Church.”[29]

Francis, in truth, only ever acted like a “reformer” in the sense of steering the Vatican ship into increasingly liberal waters, politically and socially.  He is a Jesuit, and was elected as pope of Rome.  Even if he holds to orthodox Roman Catholic doctrine, as a Jesuit he is fully prepared to bend it, distort it, or ignore it altogether if by doing so he will advance Rome’s agenda in the world.  This has been the Jesuit way since the founding of the Order in the sixteenth century.

Since his election, Francis has managed to dupe millions of his followers into believing that he is a “reformer”.  But when it comes to protecting either his buddies within the hierarchy, or himself, he will act the part of the ruthless Jesuit he is.  This is what the world is now witnessing.  Millions of Roman Catholics are shocked.  They shouldn’t be.  This is a Jesuit simply being a Jesuit, and protecting his own.

Vatican Spies Said to Be on the Hunt for Viganò

Just over two weeks after the Viganò bomb exploded, came the news that the hunt for the whistleblowing archbishop was on!  On 7 September ChurchMilitant.com, the website of Roman Catholic journalist and ex-seminarian, Michael Voris, published a report entitled: “The Hunt for Viganò: Vatican Spies Tracking Whistleblower.”  This is what it said:

“Vatican officials are on the hunt for Abp. Carlo Maria Viganò.

“According to sources within the Vatican, the Secretariat of State for the Holy See – under the direction of Pietro Cardinal Parolin – has communicated an instruction to its internal and external security services to use its ‘intelligence resources’ to locate the physical whereabouts of Abp. Viganò.

“This request has been communicated not only in order to prevent more unpredictable damage to the image of Pope Francis and the Holy See on the world stage, but also to ‘prepare the terrain’ for the former apostolic nuncio-turned-whistleblower to be prosecuted for alleged multiple crimes against Vatican and Church law…

“At first reported by the very well-informed Baron Roberto de Mattei (Corrispondenza Romana, September 5), criminal counts are said to be in the process of being researched and drafted in a libellus accusatorius (canonical criminal complaint) for Viganò having allegedly committed perjury for his having breached pontifical and other forms of state secrecy in violation of, among other norms, the instruction Secreta continere on the Pontifical Secret issued on February 4, 1974 by John Cardinal Villot, Secretary of State of the Vatican…

“News of the Vatican deploying its vast international resources to track down and prosecute Abp. Viganò are consistent with his assertions made to [veteran Italian Catholic Vaticanist] Aldo Maria Valli on their final encounter: that Viganò had ‘purchased a plane ticket,’ that he was ‘traveling abroad,’ that he ‘could not tell [Valli] where,’ that Valli ‘should not try to find him,’ that ‘his old cellular number will no longer be functioning,’ and that they ‘saluted each other one last time.’

“Viganò, in saying goodbye to Valli, appears to have known exactly what the worst elements of the Vatican and its agents are capable of.  Let us hope he has taken every necessary precaution from falling into the hands of those who would wish him ill.”[30]

Is this report true?  Or merely based on rumours?  Officially, the latter, as there was no confirmation from the Vatican itself.  But then, it is the nature of covert operations to be precisely that: covert.  Naturally the Vatican would deny it!  Yet from what we know from history, both ancient and modern, of how the Vatican, through its vast international spy network, its undercover Jesuit agents, etc., operates, the above report is certainly within the realms of possibility.  And unless the Lord in His sovereignty prevents it, Viganò will in due course be found and then charged, so as to silence him… or worse, assassinated. 

Conclusion

Viganò’s allegations are extremely credible, and it is a good thing that they have been brought into the open.  But it would be a grave mistake to assume that there is not an agenda behind these allegations.  There is.  And those supporting the allegations are often guilty of the very same crimes.  Neither side is innocent in all this.  Both sides are playing a deadly game.  In God’s providence we can be thankful that in the fallout, a lot of truth regarding the abuse will emerge.  Let the Lord’s people pray for the downfall of the Papal system, and pray for the multiplied thousands harmed by these predator-priests, that many would hear of the true and only Physician of souls, the Lord Jesus Christ, and call upon Him for everlasting salvation.

September 2018

Shaun Willcock is a minister, author and researcher.  He runs Bible Based Ministries.  For other articles (which may be downloaded and printed), as well as details about his books, audio messages, pamphlets, etc., please visit the Bible Based Ministries website; or write to the address below.  If you would like to be on Bible Based Ministries’ email list, to receive all future articles, please send your details.

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ENDNOTES:

[1]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 48, September 1, 2018.  Urbi et Orbi Communications, New Hope, Kentucky.  MoynihanReport@gmail.com.

[2]. Red State, August 26, 2018.  Article: “Will Demands for Pope Francis’s Resignation Lead the New York Times to Conclude Some Sex Abuse Shouldn’t be Investigated?”  www.redstate.com.

[3]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 39, August 27, 2018.

[4]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 39, August 27, 2018.

[5]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 38, August 25, 2018.

[6]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 38, August 25, 2018.

[7]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 38, August 25, 2018.

[8]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 38, August 25, 2018.

[9]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 38, August 25, 2018.

[10]. For a wealth of documented evidence, see Jesuit Hollywood, by Shaun Willcock.  Bible Based Ministries, 2015.  To order, go to our website.

[11]. See Jesuit “Moral Theology” and the Destruction of Western Morality, by Shaun Willcock.  Bible Based Ministries, 2017.  Available on our website.

[12]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 48, September 1, 2018.

[13]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 40, August 28, 2018.

[14]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 40, August 28, 2018.

[15]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 40, August 28, 2018.

[16]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 39, August 27, 2018.

[17]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 40, August 28, 2018.

[18]The Moynihan Letters, Letter 39, August 27, 2018.

[19]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 52, September 7, 2018.

[20]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 50, September 4, 2018.

[21]The Moynihan Letters, Letter 40, August 28, 2018.

[22]The Moynihan Letters, Letter 40, August 28, 2018.

[23]. See the following articles, all by Shaun Willcock: Child Sexual Abuse by Priests: Revelations of Shocking Crimes and Sinful Cover-Ups; Homosexuality in the Roman Catholic Priesthood; The Massive Scale of Child Abuse by Priests in Ireland; Is the Pope of Rome Guilty?  All available on our website.

[24]. Africa Christian Action, 5 September 2018.  Article: “The Gay Mafia Behind the Sex Abuse Crisis in Roman Catholicism.” www.christianaction.org.za.

[25]. Africa Christian Action, 5 September 2018.

[26]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 40, August 28, 2018.

[27]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 53, September 8, 2018.

[28]. WND, August 31, 2018.  Article: “Catholic Leaders Back Pope’s Accuser.” www.wnd.com.

[29]. The Moynihan Letters, Letter 53, September 8, 2018.

[30]. Church Militant, September 7, 2018.  Article: “The Hunt for Viganò: Vatican Spies Tracking Whistleblower.”  ChurchMilitant.com.