A top bishop has denied
claims by the Vatican's former US envoy that Pope Francis
covered up sex abuse by former Washington Archbishop Theodore
McCarrick and should therefore resign.
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for
Bishops, wrote an open letter to Bishop Carlo Maria Viganò
urging him to retract his claims.
According to Vatican News, Ouellet wrote to Viganò: "Dear
Pontifical Representative Emeritus, I tell you frankly that I
believe it is incredible and unlikely from many points of view
to accuse Pope Francis of having covered up after having full
knowledge of the facts of this presumed sexual predator, and
therefore of being an accomplice in the corruption rampant in
the Church, to the point of considering him unfit to continue
his reforms as the first Shepherd of the Church.
"I cannot understand how you could have allowed yourself to
be convinced of this monstrous accusation which has no standing.
Francis had nothing to do with the promotion of McCarrick to New
York, Metuchen, Newark or Washington. He divested him from the
dignity of Cardinal when a credible accusation of the abuse of a
minor became evident.
"I have never heard Pope Francis allude to this self-styled
advisor during his pontificate regarding nominations in America,
though he does not hide the trust that he has in some of the
Bishops. I presume that they are not preferred by you or by
those friends who support your interpretation of the facts.
"I therefore consider it to be aberrant that you should
profit by the horrible scandal of the sexual abuse of minors in
the United States to inflict such an unprecedented and unmerited
blow on the moral authority of your Superior, the Supreme
Pontiff."
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