Vindicated: Vatican Insider who Accused Francis I of a Cover-Up

Vindicated – Vatican Insider who Accused Francis I of a Cover Up, PDF format

Some six months ago in September 2018, I wrote an article entitled Top-Ranking Vatican Insider Accuses Francis I of a Cover-Up,[1] about the allegations made by retired Roman Catholic archbishop, Carlo Maria Viganò, against his pope, Francis I, in August 2018.  Viganò, a former Vatican nuncio (ambassador) to the United States under popes Benedict and Francis, described as a top-ranking Vatican “insider”, released an open letter alleging that Francis had known, at least five years before, about the sexual molestation of seminarians (young male students for the priesthood) by a former cardinal named Theodore McCarrick, because he (Viganò) had told him about it in June 2013; and yet Francis had done nothing about it.

McCarrick reportedly invited seminarians to his beach house, where he shared a bed with them.  “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…”[2]  By the late 1990s all this was in fact an open secret among New Jersey’s Roman Catholics where McCarrick was archbishop, and was often discussed by priests and nuns.[3]

Following a ruling in June 2018 on two of the allegations against him by a New York archdiocesan tribunal, which judged that the allegations were “credible”, McCarrick resigned from the College of Cardinals.  This step was described as “very shocking, very unusual, hasn’t happened in decades”.[4]

Nevertheless, Francis himself had done nothing, even though the allegations against McCarrick had been known for so many years.  And in light of this failure to act, Viganò actually took the astounding step of urging Francis to resign.

Viganò’s open letter 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.  But it turns out that Viganò was right all along – and has now been vindicated.

Let us backtrack somewhat, to remind readers about his allegations, and then see what has now happened to vindicate him.

Viganò’s 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 he was absolutely correct.  There is nothing new in it, for it has been going on for many centuries, But in recent decades the evidence that has poured in from all across the earth has been overwhelming, with multiplied thousands of priests being found guilty of the sexual abuse of both children and adults.

Viganò continued: “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.”

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

In 2006 a priest named Gregory Littleton wrote an indictment memorandum against the cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, in which he recounted McCarrick’s sexual abuse of seminarians, and he sent this 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, and said that these matters “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.  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.  It thus 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”.

With regards to homosexuality being rife in the priesthood, Viganò was merely stating what has been an open secret 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.

Viganò again referred to the homosexuality rife within the high ranks of the Vatican, writing: “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]

He continued: “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]

And 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.

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

These allegations amounted to a massive potential bombshell against the “Church” of Rome.  But it was what Viganò 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.   He 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.  Viganò claimed that when he met Francis, the pope 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 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” (emphasis added).

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 refutations by various men implicated by Viganò.  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.[9]    The point, however, is this: whether he did or did not mishandle that case, his allegations in his open letter stood or fell 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.”[10]  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 mattered was: were the accusations he made credible?  In all honesty, it has to be said that they were.  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 it was the truth.  The fact simply is that the evidence against McCarrick is extensive.  As reported in an Associated Press story in late August 2018 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.”[11]

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.”[12]  And journalist Rod Dreher stated: “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?”[13]  This is all that matters. 

The Jesuits, unsurprisingly, rallied behind 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…).”[14]

The pro-Francis Jesuit magazine, America, although by no means 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.[15]  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.

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

Without doubt the most 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.”[16]  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!

Did Viganò Have Evidence?

What about Viganò producing actual evidence to support his claims?  His enemies demanded this of him.  But journalist Rod Dreher wrote 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.”[17]

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 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.”[18]

In my previous article on this matter in September 2018 (much of which is reproduced above), I said that it remained to be seen what the final outcome of all these revelations would be.  Well, now we know:

Viganò Vindicated: Vatican “Dismisses McCarrick from the Clerical State”

In February 2019 the Vatican announced that ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick had been “laicised”, i.e. “removed from the clerical state”.

The Vatican provided the following statement: “On 11 January 2019, the Congresso of the [Vatican] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [i.e. the former Inquisition], at the conclusion of a penal process, issued a decree finding Theodore Edgar McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington, D.C., guilty of the following delicts while a cleric: solicitation in the Sacrament of Confession, and sins against the Sixth Commandment with minors and with adults, with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power.  The Congresso imposed on him the penalty of dismissal from the clerical state.”[19]

(Incidentally, what the Vatican calls the sixth commandment is actually the seventh: Thou shalt not commit adultery.  In Roman Catholic Bibles it is the sixth, because Rome has altered the ten commandments).

It added: “The Holy Father has recognized the definitive nature of this decision made in accord with law, rendering it a res iudicata (i.e. admitting of no further recourse).”

Theodore McCarrick, 88 years old, thus became the most senior Roman Catholic leader to be dismissed from the priesthood in modern times.[20]  A Catholic News Agency article stated: “The final disposition of McCarrick’s case marks the end of a luciferian fall from grace by a man once seen as the leader of the Catholic Church in the United States, and one of the most influential cardinalis worldwide.  To go from membership in the college of cardinals in June to being expelled from the clergy altogether in February is unprecedented.”[21]

So: Viganò was vindicated.  He was right all along about McCarrick.  This should have been a huge and extraordinary embarrassment for Francis I and his Jesuit defenders.   More than embarrassing, it should have brought Francis and his friends into the intense spotlight of the world media.  But it did not.  Was there a word from Francis, or anyone directly under him, or anyone in the Inquisition, or the Jesuits, apologising to Viganò?  We have not read of a single one.  Viganò had been vilified, mocked, ridiculed, even threatened – and yet he was right all along.

Francis and the Vatican acted against McCarrick eventually, it is true; but only eventually.  Only after many, many long months.  Indeed, only after years, and only when it became impossible to sweep the evidence under the carpet anymore.

What an iniquitous system this religious system, with its headquarters in Rome, really is!  Its pope claims to be the Vicar of Christ on earth – and yet he did nothing to stop the abuse heaped on the head of one of his own, simply because that man credibly alleged that a cardinal who was close to the pope was guilty of vile sexual offences.  But when the pressure became just too great, then this pope acted… yet without any word of apology for how he, his Jesuits, and so many other top officials of the Vatican had treated Viganò.

How very sad that Carlo Maria Viganò, despite all that has happened to him for speaking out, remains a committed Papist, held in bondage within the darkness of that devilish religion, still worshipping the false Mary-goddess, still worshipping idols, still partaking of the blasphemous mass, still going to confession, still holding to all the other diabolical doctrines and practices of Rome.  His “church” has failed him.  His pope has failed him.  His fellow-prelates have turned against him.  Yet still he remains shackled to this devilish religion.

Vigano Vindicated: Evidence from an Unusual Source that Francis Knew McCarrick was Guilty

Viganò insisted all along that Francis I knew McCarrick was guilty.  And now evidence has arisen from a most unusual source that, on this point as well, Viganò was right.

A devastating book has just been published by a French sodomite activist, Frederic Martel, entitled Sodom: In the Closet of the Vatican.  Martel is a professedly “pro-Francis” author who wrote his book, at least partly, to support Francis in his policy of “greater openness and mercy” toward homosexuals, and he had direct access into Vatican City and spoke with dozens of high-ranking Vatican officials – and yet even so, the book appears to confirm Viganò’s testimony about Francis.  Citing top Vatican officials very close to Francis, Martel confirms that Viganò was not lying when he said that he had informed Francis about Theodore McCarrick’s evil reputation as far back as 2013 already, but that Francis did nothing for he did not consider it important enough.

The following was written by veteran Italian journalist Marco Tosatti, a man who has covered Vatican affairs for some 40 years:

“According to the author [Martel, author of Sodom], in the English version of the text, and we offer here our translation, Pope Bergoglio [Francis] was really informed by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò of the past of predation towards seminarians and young priests, but he did not consider the fact so important…

“Martel, as we know, was helped and hosted by prelates in the Vatican, to carry out his task [or research for his book]…. So we have to believe Martel, particularly because he puts the central phrase in quotes.  Here is a little portion [of Martel’s new book] we have translated [with the key translation at the end in italics]:

“‘…[Viganò names] cardinals and bishops of the Roman Curia and the American episcopate who, according to him [Viganò], took part in this huge cover-up…(When the Pope dismissed the allegations, his entourage indicated to me that Francis “was initially informed by Viganò that Cardinal McCarrick had had homosexual relations with over-age seminarians, which was not enough in his eyes to condemn him”).’

“If Martel writes the truth – and there is no reason to believe the opposite, since he is certainly not a conservative homophobe Pharisee moralizing and hypocritical – some considerations are required.

“The first: even though the seminarians were not under age, if a person hierarchically in a high position, and who can decide the fate of one of his subordinates, sexually harasses him, it is no longer a question of sex between consenting adults: there is a form of violence.  Now we know that this fact does not seem important to the Pontiff.  Or at least, not so important, at least not to favor and use the abuser until this bond becomes too embarrassing, and then sacrifice him to the public opinion.

“Second: it is months and months that the Catholics are waiting for an answer: Did Viganò lie, or not?  It seems that according to Martel, and according to the entourage of the Pontiff, he has told the truth.

“So why not admit it?  Why not to say, as a man and a Christian [remember, Tosatti believes Roman Catholics are Christians – S.W.], ‘it’s true I was warned, but I thought it was not so serious.  I was wrong in my judgment, forgive me’?

“Such behavior would have a very different effect from the savage reactions with which the Pope’s hand and pen men, assisted by obliging mass media, were unleashed in the aggression of the person of Viganò…”[22]

Savage reactions indeed.  But this is how the Vatican has always worked.  And as for Francis admitting he was wrong, no one should be holding their breath in anticipation.

It is obvious to all but the most blinded devotees of Francis that he knew, and yet did nothing.  For all his talk about cleaning up the filth in the Roman Catholic system, he did nothing whatsoever about a friend of his until he absolutely had to do something, reluctantly.  Very, very reluctantly.  And without a word of apology to a man who, devoted servant of the Papacy that he is, was thrown under the bus by the pope’s goons.

As this global scandal continues, may it please the Lord to open many eyes to the iniquity of this religious system, of the man who heads it, and of the hundreds of thousands of lecherous perverts who run the entire system for their own benefit as some kind of gigantic brothel, homosexual nightclub, and child sex ring.

                                                                                                                                                    April 2019

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]. Top-Ranking Vatican Insider Accuses Francis I of a Cover-Up, by Shaun Willcock.  Bible Based Ministries, September 2018. Available on our website: www.biblebasedministries.co.uk

[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, September 1, 2018.  Urbi et Orbi Communications, New Hope, Kentucky.  MoynihanReport@gmail.com.

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

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

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

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

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

[9]. The Moynihan Letters, August 28, 2018.

[10]. The Moynihan Letters, August 28, 2018.

[11]. The Moynihan Letters, August 28, 2018.

[12]. The Moynihan Letters, August 27, 2018.

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

[14]. The Moynihan Letters, September 7, 2018.

[15]. The Moynihan Letters, September 4, 2018.

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

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

[18]The Moynihan Letters, August 28, 2018.

[19]. Zenit.org, February 18, 2019.  Article: “Ex-Cardinal McCarrick Has Been Removed from Clerical State; Pope Blocks Possibility for Appeal.”

[20]. BBC, 16 February 2019.  Article: “US Ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick Defrocked Over Abuse Claims.” www.bbc.com.

[21]. Catholic News Agency, February 16, 2019.  Article: “After McCarrick Sex Abuse Verdict, Money and Power Questions Remain.”  Quoted in The Moynihan Letters, February 20, 2019.

[22]. The Moynihan Letters, February 17, 2019.