"Under Pope Francis, ‘accountability’ finally crosses the Tiber" John Allen

" .... in May, the pontiff summarily dismissed five Vatican officials implicated in a controversial London real estate deal, even before any of them had been convicted or even charged with criminal activity. (It didn’t escape notice here that the firings came on May 1, which is observed in Italy as “Labor Day,” in part to enshrine workers’ rights.) Earlier this year, the pope basically fired German Archbishop Georg Gänswein from his responsibilities as Prefect of the Papal Household, though he retains the title, reportedly upset over Gänswein’s role in a meltdown involving a book initially presented as co-authored by Pope emeritus Benedict XVI that fed perceptions of a conflict between Benedict and Francis.

In 2018, of course, Francis also demanded that Theodore McCarrick resign from the College of Cardinals over allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct, ordering him to observe a life of “prayer and penance in seclusion,” and later removed McCarrick from the priesthood.

For Americans, it seems a no-brainer that someone caught in a scandal or who’s responsible for a failure would be fired. That’s what we mean by “accountability” – coaches whose teams lose get fired, CEOs whose companies under-perform get fired, politicians caught with their hands in the cookie jar get fired, TV stars whose ratings go down get fired, and on and on. It’s the heart of capitalist psychology, really – success brings rewards, failures bring punishment.

Yet Italian culture, which is the matrix in which the Vatican is set, hasn’t always rolled that way. Indeed, there’s not even an exact Italian translation for the English word “accountability.” Put it into Google Translate and you’ll get responsabilità, “responsibility,” but that’s hardly the same thing. In general, Italian labor laws make it exceedingly difficult to fire someone for perceived non-performance. Underlying that, at least in part, is a more communitarian culture, which implies that success or failure rarely rests on the shoulders of a single individual.

Moreover, the Vatican over the years has taken a dim view of American-style “accountability,” regarding it, at best, as more suited to a corporation than a family, and, at worst, as typically immature American over-reaction, blood lust and hysteria. John Allen

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I used to spend quite a lot of time with Catholic clergy and prelates in the US, Europe and the Levant when I was involved in charitable works in the ME. 

The clergy and hierarchy in the US are, in my experience, in the main, vain, careerist homosexuals hiding from a largely heterosexual world.  They cultivate each other from an early age, seeking the kind of "mentorship" that involves a lot of fawning and sucking up, one way or another,

That is not to say that there not a good many godly men who sacrifice a lot personally in the hope of following Jesus.  I knew quite a few like that in the chaplainate of the Army, but there are more of the others.  I will never forget a sermon preached on Memorial Day at the Presidio of Monterey by an Army Chaplain.

See my "Dear Hearts Across the Seas" for that.

In the ME, the age old practice of simony continues in the clergy.  A Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem, a Palestinian, had to be removed from his see some time back because he installed his nephew as auxiliary bishop of Nazareth, and then they shared the "loot" together.  Eventually his sins became too great to ignore.  

Teddy McCarrick was very, very queer all his clerical life and the corruptor of many young men.  He was always like that.  Clergy and Religious in and from the Archdiocese of New York would laugh sadly and say that if he had not made a pass at you , you must be really ugly.  I was always careful to sit at the opposite end of any table in the fear that I might not be ugly or aged enough to escape his attention.

Pope Francis is accused by Archbishop Vigano of apostasy in the matter of doubting the reality of Transubstantiation and of various other heresies, including a confession and justification of his own homosexuality to a gay priest.

Nevertheless, it appears that he wants to shovel out the Church's stables.  pl 

https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2020/09/under-pope-francis-accountability-finally-crosses-the-tiber/

Comments

[Serge]

Predatory homosexual behavior of this sort unfortunately leaves a deep inheritable psychosocial imprint in the body that it infests, both on a micro/macro scale. You can see this example repeat itself in certain militaries and political/cultural establishments across the world and again on the micro scale where time and time again victims later become predatory homosexuals themselves. The Semites place high emphasis on stamping this out at the source and treating it like a virus, for a reason. The Western Roman trappings of the Catholic Church have managed to circumvent these provisions, I wonder whether this happened at the inception of the institution, by design, or whether it happened by corruption with the passage of time.

[The Twisted Genius]

I only met a bishop once, when I was confirmed. All the priests I have ever known were on the up and up as far as I know. My parish priest was a Navy chaplain in the Pacific during WWII. He told us the story of how he and two other chaplains knelt on the deck of a transport praying long and hard about the upcoming invasion of Japan. The next day, they received word of the surrender. Another story he shared with us alter boys was of a visit to the local seminary. The novices asked him how long it would take to stop thinking about girls. Our pastor answered he didn't know and that he wished someone would tell him when that would happen. He was one hell of a priest and one hell of a man.

[turcopolier]

TTG Yes. Sure. You never knew the real assholes and there are many , especially among the "hot runners." You should know that term.

[turcopolier]

TTG
A retired marine LTC who is both a knight of Malta and a knight of the Holy Sepulcher told me that he was an orphan who had lost his father. This guy has the Navy Cross. A priest shined up to his widowed mother and took the opportunity to bugger this kid. I told the marine that my father did not even like me and he would surely have killed this guy in a fit of cavalry rage. The marine said in reply that he had no father.

[guidoamm]

Chastity makes the church grow fondlers....

(running and ducking)

[Seneschal]

The Desert Fathers lived in the desert for a reason. The world is a difficult place to live for those who wish to be celibate. Some can cope. Most cannot. St. Paul said it best.

[Kerry Noonan]

The Desert Fathers did not flee trials but ran to greater ones. In imitation of our Lord they put themselves to the test in the ultimate arena of spiritual combat.

Celibacy is a discipline and gift for the loyal soldiers of Christ who are called to it. The failures of the disloyal have no bearing on the gratuitous gifts of God.

[Seneschal]

I agree with every word, Kerry, but show me a man who thinks he is a loyal soldier of Christ and I'll show you a man who has never seen a ladder.

[fakebot]

What of Trump's Supreme Court pick? The Democrats are up in arms because she belongs to a Catholic group that holds, "men should be head of the household." Ha! If only she was a devout Muslim dressed to the nines in an all black burqa, they would have loved her I bet. It's a good thing they picked a woman, at least they won't accuse her of sex assault, but in politics you can never say never. Maybe they'll find some lesbian to come out of the woodwork.

[fakebot]

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/holy-smoke/id1163175265?i=1000492975973

The Vatican is this week in the grip of a paranoia reminiscent of the days when Renaissance popes (and their dinner guests) were forced to employ food-tasters.

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, until 2018 the sostenuto at the Secretariat of State – that is, the Pope's hugely powerful chief of staff – has been sacked by Francis, who has accused him of stealing vast amounts of money. The Pope, who once showered him with favours, stripped Becciu of all the privileges associated with the position of cardinal – a twist of the knife worthy of a Netflix drama, or perhaps one of the Godfather films.

And now, in an equally extraordinary sequel, Becciu's arch-foe Cardinal George Pell, until recently languishing in an Australian jail cell, is heading back to Rome to advise Francis on resuming the Pell financial reforms that Becciu torpedoed.

My guest for this episode of Holy Smoke is the journalist who can take the most credit for uncovering Becciu's activities: Ed Condon, Washington Bureau Chief of the Catholic News Agency.

Lots of intrigue at the Vatican.