Posts Tagged “john paul ii”
 A couple years ago I blogged about the Vatican’s takeover of the long-troubled priestly order Legionaries of Christ. This order’s founder, the late Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado, had been a darling of the previous Pope, the Blessed John Paul II. It seems, in hindsight … after years of internal Church investigations that only really began once John Paul had died … that Fr Maciel had been up to no good, and the order itself served as a front behind which he operated as a kind of rogue clerical princeling. My prior blog post on Maciel lays out some of what he’d been up to.
But it turns out the late Fr Maciel wasn’t the only misbehaving Legionary of Christ. Two years after taking over this sorry excuse for a clerical order, the AP reports (via USA Today), the Vatican has begun looking into the affairs of several other Legionaries (WebCite cached article):
The Vatican is investigating seven priests from the troubled Legion of Christ religious order for alleged sexual abuse of minors and another two for other alleged crimes, The Associated Press has learned. …
[T]he Vatican investigation of other Legion priests indicates that the same culture of secrecy that Maciel created within the order to cover his crimes enabled other priests to abuse children — just as abusive clergy of other religious orders and dioceses have done around the world.
This has actually been a long time coming. For years, the Vatican bureaucracy has been nosing around, collecting reports of various abuses by the order and its members. So what have the canon lawyers been doing with themselves, all this time, especially after they’d been running the order for two years now? I have no idea … and I suspect they don’t either. So now that these individual investigations have begun, it would be unreasonable to expect them to be resolved any time soon. We’re in for several more years of waiting for word as to what they finally discover. In other words, the investigations will stretch out long enough that some of those being investigated, or the witnesses involved, will die off; at that point the investigators will decide they have too little information to make any determination.
Photo credit: Pliino Lepri / AP, via USA Today.
Tags: catholic church, catholic clergy, catholic clerical sexual abuse, christian, Christianity, christians, clerical sexual abuse, fr marcial maciel, john paul ii, legion of christ, legionaries of christ, marcial maciel, marcial maciel degallado, pope john paul ii, rev marcial maciel degallado, roman catholic, roman catholic church, sexual abuse, vatican, vatican city
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 Continuing its effort to divert attention to its dismal lack of action in the wake of the clerical child abuse scandal which has pummeled the Catholic Church periodically for many years now, Pope Benedict XVI beatified his predecessor, John Paul II, today, as CNN reports (WebCite cached article):
Catholic faithful from around the world poured into Rome on Sunday as the Catholic Church declares Pope John Paul II “blessed,” a step below sainthood.
There were cheers as Pope Benedict XVI personally beatified his predecessor, and a huge tapestry protrait [sic] of John Paul II was unveiled, showing him as the healthy, vigorous and relatively young man he was early in his papacy.
As I blogged some time ago, this beatification had been preceded by a great deal of salesmanship by the Vatican, which included Facebook and Youtube marketing campaigns. They worked very hard to turn this into something other than the routine affair that beatifications usually are (since beatification is merely another step on the road to the final destination of canonization or sainthood).
At any rate, it’s remarkable that the man who sat atop the Church while the “priestly pedophilia” scandal was brewing — and who was the architect of its policy of refusing to respond to it and refusing to do anything about it — is now “the Blessed John Paul II” and soon will become “Saint John Paul II.” It also comes almost exactly one year after the Vatican seized the priestly order known as the Legion of Christ, because of irregularities in how it was run and because its deceased founder had been discovered to be a sick, amoral degenerate (cached) operating under cover of the order. What makes this remarkable is that the Legion of Christ had been favored by John Paul, was heavily patronized and promoted by him, and even protected by him in the late ’90s and early ’00s when word of its degeneracy started leaking out.
One is forced to ask whether or not John Paul can possibly be thought of as a “blessed” or even “saintly” character, given these facts. The Vatican denies John Paul’s involvement in the corruption of the Legion of Christ; while it’s probably true that he didn’t know everything that order or its founder were up to, it’s still the case that he worked to hinder investigations into it, meaning that he didn’t want them exposed. That’s hardly “saintly” behavior.
Photo credit: Templar1307.
Tags: beatification, beatified, catholic church, holy see, john paul ii, legion of christ, pope john paul, pope john paul ii, roman catholic, roman catholic church, saint, sainthood, vatican, vatican city
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 What does a vast multinational institution do, when it finds itself in the throes of a pervasive, years-long global scandal which it cannot and will not deal with? Why, it diverts people’s attention to something other than the scandal!
Hence, the Roman Catholic Church is promoting the upcoming beatification of Pope John Paul II with an online advertising campaign, as reported by the Catholic News Agency (WebCite cached article):
With the help of Facebook and YouTube users, the Vatican hopes to create a broad audience for material on the life and teachings of the soon-to-be beatified Pope John Paul II.
The Vatican’s television center and Vatican Radio have teamed up with the Pontifical Council for Social Communications to produce two new webpages on YouTube and Facebook.
The Facebook page offers audio and video content to prepare “friends” and any other passersby for the beatification of the late-Pope on May 1, 2011.
I can’t help but note that, previously, the Vatican and its current leader, Pope Benedict XVI, hasn’t had much good to say about the Internet; for example, he warned young people from getting too wrapped up in it (cached). I guess Benedict suddenly finds the Internet is OK, but only if young people use it to celebrate the beatification of his predecessor?
I also can’t help but note that John Paul’s beatification will conveniently take place 20 days before evangelical “Bible scholar” Harold Camping says the Rapture will sweep the world clean of all its Christians. Whew!
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Tags: beatification, beatified, benedict xvi, blessed, blessed john paul ii, facebook, john paul ii, may 1 2011, pope, pope benedict, pope benedict xvi, pope john paul, pope john paul ii, youtube
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 In addition to all the bad news that’s broken about the Roman Catholic Church … during the last couple months, as well as the last few years … a single, multinational Catholic scandal has been brewing since the late 90s. It involves a Catholic clerical order known as the Legionaries of Christ; specifically the reprehensible lifestyle of the order’s founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado. Maciel had once been a favorite of Pope John Paul II — in spite of scandals and rumors that swirled about him for decades — but after that pope’s death, the scandals became impossible for the Vatican to ignore. After several years of investigations and various forms of hyperbureaucratic procrastinations, the Vatican has finally had enough of the late Rev Maciel’s order, and is taking it over. The Hartford Courant reports on this latest development (WebCite cached article):
The Vatican’s decision to assume leadership of the scandal-plagued Legionaries of Christ won acceptance Sunday from the order itself and praise from those who abandoned the conservative movement now discredited by revelations that its founder sexually abused seminarians and fathered at least one child. …
The reaction came a day after the Vatican issued an extraordinarily blunt statement about Maciel and the religious order once championed by Pope John Paul II for its orthodoxy and ability to attract new vocations at a time when the number of priests was falling drastically.
The Vatican on Saturday announced that Pope Benedict XVI would name a papal delegate to govern the order and that a special commission would study its founding constitutions to reform it. The decisions were made after five Vatican investigators reported to the pope about their eight-month global inquiry into the order after its late founder was so thoroughly discredited by revelations of his double life.
In announcing the papal takeover, the Vatican excoriated Maciel for creating a “system of power” built on silence, deceit and obedience that enabled him to lead a double life “devoid of any scruples and authentic sense of religion” and allowed him to abuse young boys unchecked.
Maciel, his order, and its lay arm the Regnum Christi had gotten away with a great deal for a very long time, especially under John Paul II, who admired Maciel’s apparent militant dogmatism. But no amount of Vatican favoritism could protect the Legion forever.
The Courant has been beating the drum of Maciel’s wrongdoing for many years now, having run a number of stories on him. Most of that time the paper had been accused of being “anti-Catholic” and harassing an old man … but most of the accusations leveled at him turn out to have been accepted as true — by the very same Vatican which once had been reluctant even to consider them! Here are some of these stories the Courant has run (cached list):
Of course, the Courant‘s Vatican-admitted veracity on the matter of Rev. Marcial Maciel Degallado will not dissuade those who continue to whine about it being an “anti-Catholic” paper when it comes to its coverage of other matters, such as that of Dr. George Reardon, the late pedophile doctor whom even now — in death — the archdiocese of Hartford (which runs the hospital he’d worked for) continues to spend lots of money and political capital actively defending (cached article). To those folks, no amount of criticism can ever be leveled at their Church … not even truthful information. To them, nothing negative about the Catholic Church, no matter how much veracity it might have, can be reported about it. It’s impermissible to these people. Their Church is sacred, holy, and perfect … and the only reason anyone might have to say even the slightest bad things about it, are avowed “anti-Catholics.”
Tags: benedict xvi, catholic, catholic church, catholic clerical abuse scandal, child abuse, clerical abuse, clerical scandal, holy see, john paul 2, john paul ii, legion of christ, legionaries of christ, love child, marcial maciel, marcial maciel degallado, pope benedict, pope benedict xvi, pope john paul, pope john paul 2, pope john paul ii, regnum christi, rev marcial maciel, rev marcial maciel degallado, roman catholic, roman catholic church, sexual abuse, vatican, vatican city
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 According to a newly-published biography by one of the men investigating the possibility of his canonization, the late Pope John Paul II engaged in the practice of self-flagellation. This biography adds a few other revelations about him, including that he had investigated the possibility of resigning as Pope if it proved necessary, and had even set up a possible mechanism by which he might have done so. Time magazine reports (WebCite cached article):
Book: John Paul II Whipped Himself, Weighed Retiring
A new book by the priest in charge of the Vatican’s official case for Pope John Paul II’s sainthood is packed with fascinating — and, apparently, meticulously verified — revelations. The one that grabbed most of the headlines was the claim that John Paul whipped himself with a belt, an act of corporal penitence designed to draw the flagellator closer to Christ’s suffering, and one that is usually associated with a very distant century, or a Dan Brown novel.
“As some members of his close entourage in Poland and in the Vatican were able to hear, John Paul flagellated himself,” writes Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the Polish prelate who collected testimony in his role as “postulator” for the Pope’s canonization. “In his armoire, amid all the vestments and hanging on a hanger, was a belt which he used as a whip.”
The Roman Catholic Church has always had a kind of push-me-pull-you relationship with the practice of self-flagellation (or ritually flogging oneself). It has what has periodically been viewed as a scriptural support, e.g. these passages:
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:13)
Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)
Self-flagellation, then, is a kind of ritual “killing of the body” or mortification, which is supposed to — at least spiritually — “kill” the physical impulses that interfere with salvation. While self-flagellation goes back to the early history of Christianity (and may have been practiced in pre-Christian times as well), the Roman Catholic Church has not always smiled on the practice. In the 14th century a disparate collection of Catholics, known as the Flagellants, became well-known, and the practice came into vogue. Pope Clement VI, after a brief period of indulging them, officially suppressed the Flagellants.
Since then, the Catholic Church has taken a middle-of-the-road approach to self-flagellation: As long as it’s not too obvious, too public, too brutal, too obsessive, or physically injurious, it’s acceptable for Catholics to engage in the practice. Nevertheless, I find it odd that a Monsignor might view the late Pope’s self-flagellation as evidence of his piety and as supporting his sainthood; the Church’s repression of the Flagellants suggests that Catholicism does not view self-flagellation as being as “holy” a practice as has been suggested.
Another revelation is that John Paul II laid the foundations of a mechanism by which he might have resigned, if needed. For the most part, over the last several centuries, Catholicism has presumed that the Pope is supposed to remain the Pope until death, that resignation is something that’s just not done. Of course, this assumption flies in the face of history, because some Popes have, in fact, resigned; e.g. Gregory XII, whose resignation effectively ended the Great Western Schism. At any rate, Pope John Paul II set up a mechanism that might have gotten around the supposition that Popes cannot resign, as Time explains:
According to the book, John Paul on Feb. 15, 1989 signed a document clearing the way for him to step down if necessary. Five years later, suffering from a growing number of ailments, including the lingering effects of a 1981 assassination attempt, the Pope updated details of the procedure “in the case of infirmity which is presumed incurable, long-lasting and which impedes me from sufficiently carrying out the functions of my apostolic ministry.” He also charged his then doctrinal chief, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — now known as Pope Benedict XVI — to investigate the implications for the church of having a living “Pope Emeritus” while his successor tried to establish his reign. The vexed question of papal resignation has become increasingly important as a result of modern medicine’s ability to potentially extend a Pontiff’s life long past his ability to effectively run a 1 billion-strong global church.
As it turned out, in spite of his many medical issues, John Paul II ended up never taking advantage of this resignation option.
Ultimately, the late Pope is on track to be beatified later this year, and sometime in the next few years, canonized. I’m not sure how this book makes any kind of compelling case for that, in spite of its title.
Photo credit: Todd Ehlers.
Tags: catholic, catholic church, colossians 3:5, flagellants, flagellation, holy see, john paul 2, john paul ii, papal resignation, pope, pope john paul 2, pope john paul ii, roman catholic, roman catholic church, romans 8:13, self-flagellation, slawomir oder, vatican
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As though most Catholics … especially of the reactionary sort … don’t already view the late Pope John Paul II as a saint, it seems he’s on target for formal recognition as one. The (UK) Telegraph reports on his pending beatification:
The mayor of Rome, who would play a pivotal role in organizing the event, said the beatification of John Paul is expected to take place “at the latest” by 2010.
Speaking on a visit to Krakow, in the former Pope’s native Poland, Gianni Alemmano said: “These are internal decisions (for the Vatican) but it is expected to take place at the latest by next year.”
Vatican observers say the most likely date for the beatification would be April next year, on the fifth anniversary of the popular Pontiff’s death.
The article mentions that beatification is the next step for John Paul II in his rise to sainthood. It requires — among other things — a verified miracle associated with him.
In John Paul’s case, the miracle under consideration is said to have taken place when a French nun was cured of Parkinson’s disease.
And of course, we all know it’s not possible for a nun, or the Catholic hospitals that no doubt treated her, to be swayed to exaggerate her experience and her miraculous recovery. Oh no. That could never happen. (OK, enough sarcasm.) The Telegraph points out that John Paul II’s canonization case is being handled with what is — for the Vatican — unusual (if not unprecedented) speed:
The process leading to sainthood usually takes decades, but Pope Benedict XVI launched the beatification process for John Paul just two months after his predecessor’s death on April 5, 2005.
I suspect — but cannot prove — that the current Pope, Benedict XVI, would like to be able to canonize his mentor and guide, the man who essentially set him up as his successor, in the same way that John Paul II himself famously wanted to — and eventually did — canonize one of his own favorites, Mother Teresa. If this is the case — and again I don’t know it for sure, I can only guess it’s the case — then we have two Popes accelerating the canonization process to suit their own whims.
Hat tip: Holy Post blog (at Canada’s National Post)
Tags: beatification, benedict xvi, blessed, canonization, canonized, john paul ii, miracle, miracles, pope benedict xvi, pope john paul ii, roman catholic church, rome, saint, vatican, vatican city, venerable, venerated, veneration
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