[chatham]

I am a Catholic for many decades and I take exception when articles like this refer to the Pope as "Holy Father".

Mainly because Bene XVI knew of all of the Abuses of Children during his job in charge of the congregation of the doctrine of the Faith and he did nothing.

And now they put in Skylstadt another very questionable "leader".

McCarrick was a Phoney from the getgo.

[Antoninus]

Mainly because Bene XVI knew of all of the Abuses of Children during his job in charge of the congregation of the doctrine of the Faith and he did nothing.

That's quite an accusation. How do you know "he did nothing"? Just because the NY Times didn't report it for you?

[Pyro7480]

I am a Catholic for many decades and I take exception when articles like this refer to the Pope as "Holy Father".

That is his title. I understand the sentiment though. It isn't completely true that then-Cardinal Ratzinger did nothing.

[Mrs. Don-o]

You object to calling Pope Benedict "Holy Father"?

"Father" is a title which, while especially connected with the Pope, can be used of any spiritual father. St. Paul tells us: "For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many Fathers, For I became you Father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel"(1 Cor. 4-15)

As for "Holy": only God is the source of holiness; people, places, and things can be called "holy" only because of their association with God: holy Scripture, holy rosary, holyday, holy church, Holy Father.

It's emphatically not true that Josef Ratzinger "did nothing" about abuser-priests in his role as head of the CDF. CDF does not have a long enough arm, or the resources, to deal with every accusation and every case everywhere. The CDF has far less funding and staff than the District Attorney's office for a small American city --- and it's dealing with 1.1 billion Catholics speaking 30 or 40 major languages on the 6 inhabited continents.

As head of the CDF, Ratziner showed the approach that would be adopted under John Paul II for dealing with canonical sanctions: namely, to pursue a few major clerical offenders on every continent, and then put pressure on bishops to deal with abusers and other evildoers in their own dioceses, which is where the principal responsibility must be placed.

The CDF disciplined prominent theologians who were pushing heresies, such as Fr Tissa Balasuriya (Asia); Fr. Ernesto Cardenal (Central America); Fr. Leonardo Boff, Sr. Ivone Gebara (South America), St. Meinrad Seminary Professor Sr. Carmel McEnroy; U.S. Jesuit Frs. Michael Buckley and Edward Glynn; former Dominican priest Matthew Fox; former Jesuit John J. McNeill; Fr. Charles Curran (USA); Fr. Hans Kung and Fr.Edward Schillebeeckx,(Europe), and Abp. Emmanuel Milingo, the former archbishop of Lusaka, Zambia (Africa). At least four Catholic leaders from Brazil alone were silenced, including a bishop, Dom Pedro Casaldaliga.

Scores of lesser-known Catholic clergy, such as Benedictine Zen master Fr. Willigis Jäger and Conventual Franciscan theologian Fr. Josef Imbach, were silenced or censured.

The point is that the CDF has primary responsibility over "the Doctrine of the Faith." The very limited resources of the office were used to curb those who were falsifying the faith and morals of the Church. Each investigation mentioned above required a careful examination of writings and repeated interviews with those accused of doctrinal error, and the list was sprawling. In this context, the CFD told the bishops: "We're doing our job protecting the doctrine; you do your job in rooting out corruption, including abusive priests, in your own diocese."

As chief "doctrine enforcer," Ratzinger wasn't in a position to appoint new bishops. Now he is. He's 79 years old and --- knowing his time is limited--- he is undoubtedly choosing his priorities carefully.

Pray for him.

[WriteOn]

That's ridiculous, saying that he knew of all the abuses. One might say he knew there were problems, but I'm sure he didn't know of all the abuses. God might know of all the abuses. But even He left it to the local bishops -- for now.

It's also ridiculous to say he did nothing. You have no idea what he's done.

[Campion]

Mainly because Bene XVI knew of all of the Abuses of Children during his job in charge of the congregation of the doctrine of the Faith and he did nothing.

1. That's the responsibility of the local bishop. If the bishop drops the ball, blame the congregation for bishops or the congregation for the clergy or the Pope at the time. It's not CDF's responsibility. You might as well complain that the U.S. Secretary of Transportation didn't do enough to get American troops in Iraq adequate body armor.
2. You're making an accusation without evidence, because you have no way of knowing what he did or didn't know and did and didn't do. That's a sin of calumny, IMO.

[dangus]

1. Benedict XVI nor Wuehrl had anything to do with the selection of Skylstadt.
2. As for JP2 or Benedict's alleged complicity with the sex abuse, please see this post: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1358826/posts

To wit, "After 1980, the number of abuse cases dropped in nearly half in the next six short years. And in half again in the next five. And in half again in the next three. In fact, by 1994, the year the media was catching on to the story, the number of abuse cases had been cut by 90 percent."

Oh, Benedict knew alright. As long ago as 1987, PJ2 was speaking out against it, in public, to his bishops. But he was DOING something about it, not creating circus sideshows like the MSM.