Sg, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has also spoken in support of Abp. Vigano, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone speaks to the U.S. Bishops at their fall plenary assembly in Baltimore on Nov. 11, 2013. Archbishop vouches for Viganò, says allegations ‘must be taken seriously’ Stephen Kokx | https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/a...ano-says-allegations-must-be-taken-seriously1 SAN FRANCISCO, California, August 29, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Archbishop Carlo Viganò is a man of integrity who has a “sincere love of the Church” and who has served it with “selfless dedication,” San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said today in a statement vouching for the credibility of the long-time Vatican diplomat. Viganò has come under attack for his 11-page testimony saying Pope Francis knew of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s predation yet lifted canonical sanctions Pope Benedict XVI placed on him. His testimony accuses a number of other cardinals, bishops, and priests of covering up for McCarrick. Archbishop Cordileone wrote to the faithful of his diocese that Viganò “fulfilled well the Petrine mission entrusted to him” while serving as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States from 2011 until 2016. Viganò performed his task “at great personal sacrifice and with absolutely no consideration given to furthering his ‘career,’” Cordileone added. The San Francisco archbishop also said that while he doesn’t have any privileged information on now-disgraced McCarrick, he can attest to the fact that Viganò is telling the truth about at least some claims. “From information I do have about a very few of the other statements Archbishop Viganò makes, I can confirm that they are true,” he said. “His statements...must be taken seriously.” Cordileone said that God is “beginning this painful process of purification for us now, but for it to work, we must cooperate.” To dismiss the allegations Viganò has brought forth or to treat them lightly would “continue a culture of denial and obfuscation,” he said. “I join my voice to that of other bishops in calling for such an investigation and for taking any corrective action that may be necessary in light of its findings,” said Cordileone. His full letter in support of Viganò is below. The Archdiocese of San Francisco Office of the Archbishop 1 Peter Yorke Way San Francisco, CA 94109 August 29, 2018 Dear Faithful of the Archdiocese, Last Sunday witnessed what many are calling a “bombshell” in the Church: the publication of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s “Testimony,” alleging corruption and coverup at all levels of the Church based on his long and extensive personal knowledge. I came to know Archbishop Viganò well during the years he served as Apostolic Nuncio here in the United States. I can attest that he is a man who served his mission with selfless dedication, who fulfilled well the Petrine mission entrusted to him by the Holy Father to “strengthen his brothers in the faith,” and who would do so at great personal sacrifice and with absolutely no consideration given to furthering his “career” – all of which speaks to his integrity and sincere love of the Church. Moreover, while having no privileged information about the Archbishop McCarrick situation, from information I do have about a very few of the other statements Archbishop Viganò makes, I can confirm that they are true. His statements, therefore, must be taken seriously. To dismiss them lightly would continue a culture of denial and obfuscation. Of course, to validate his statements in detail a formal investigation will have to be conducted, one that is thorough and objective. I am therefore grateful to Cardinal DiNardo for recognizing the merit of finding answers that are “conclusive and based on evidence,” and I join my voice to that of other bishops in calling for such an investigation and for taking any corrective action that may be necessary in light of its findings. I was named a bishop on July 5, 2002, three weeks after the USCCB meeting in Dallas that approved the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, and still at the height of the drama of revelations of sex abuse of minors by clergy. At that time, I was asked to conduct a prayer service at the conclusion of a conference on family life hosted by the diocese that attracted participants from around the world. I met there an Australian priest with whom I was acquainted during our years of study in Rome, and he congratulated me on my appointment. I replied, “Thank you, but this is not a good time to become a bishop.” I will never forget his response to me: “But it is a good time to be a great bishop.” What he said to me then can be said to every Catholic at this time. The Church is in need of purification. Purification is always painful. My dear victims: you know this more than anyone; please know of our prayers and love for you, and that we continue to be here for you, to support you and help you to heal with the resources we have available. I believe God is beginning this painful process of purification for us now, but for it to work, we must cooperate. God has always raised up great saints in similar times of turmoil in the Church. I call on all of us to rededicate ourselves to prayer, penance and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, so that God will bless us with this grace. Please know of my gratitude to you all: to you our priests, who remain close by your people, lending them support and pastoral care in this time of crisis; to you our deacons, who assist priests in this responsibility and bring the Gospel to those for whom it would otherwise be inaccessible; to you our victims assistance coordinators and to all who support victims on the painful path toward healing; to the faculty and administration of St. Patrick’s Seminary for your hard work in providing deep and healthy formation for our future priests for the renewal of the Church in our corner of the Lord’s vineyard, and to our seminarians for your fervor and generosity in responding to the Lord’s call of priestly service; and last but not least, to you, our people, for your prayer, for your love and concern for the Church, which now moves you to demand change that is effective and decisive, and for your support of our priests. May God grant us all the grace to be the agents of change and purification that He is calling us to be at this time. Sincerely yours in our Lord, Most Rev. Salvatore J. Cordileone Archbishop of San Francisco **** Edited to add: Wed Aug 29, 2018 Another U.S. bishop says Pope Francis’ response to archbishop’s statement falls short By Lisa Bourne ... Bishop Paprocki recounted that, when Pope Francis was asked about this Sunday aboard the plane on his return flight from Ireland, Francis told reporters, “Read the statement carefully and make your own judgment. I will not say a single word on this.” “Frankly, but with all due respect,” Bishop Paprocki said, “that response is not adequate.” The seriousness of Viganò’s statement commanded its full vetting, he said, and if Francis is to provide the accountability he has promised, any relevant McCarrick files must be released. “Given the gravity of the content and implications of the former Nuncio’s statement,” he continued, “it is important for all the facts of this situation to be fully reviewed, vetted, and carefully considered.” “Toward that end,” said Paprocki, “Pope Francis, Vatican officials and the current Apostolic Nuncio should make public the pertinent files indicating who knew what and when about Archbishop (formerly Cardinal) McCarrick and provide the accountability that the Holy Father has promised.” The bishop concluded by saying he concurred with the statement from Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the USCCB president, that the questions raised in Viganò’s testimony “deserve answers that are conclusive and based on evidence.” A number of prelates and other Catholics have shown support for Viganò since the release of the testimony, including Cardinal Raymond Burke; Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted; Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana, Kazakhstan; Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas; San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, Wisconsin. Calls for the Pope’s resignation have become part of the conversation since Francis said Sunday he would not speak about Viganò’s allegations that he knew about McCarrick. PS - Click on the links to the articles for any hotlinks contained in the articles above.
Open letter to Fr James Martin from a Colombian dominican monk, could not be said more loud and clear, bravo Fray Nelson!!!!! http://www.infocatolica.com/blog/mundoescorinto.php [English version:] @JamesMartinSJ, You can say what you say because you are where you are. And you are where you are because powerful prelates give you limitless support and keep promoting you. Yet they will not be forever nor will their support last forever. At the proper time, in accordance with God’s providence, truth will shine strong and true mercy will be offered anew: It’s not about learning to live side by side with sin but overcoming sin through repentance and conversion, as St. Ignatius taught so well. For a sin is a sin, even under many coats of sugar and layers upon layers of well-crafted rethoric. And every sinner deserves to be guided to the full light of the Gospel no matter how out of reach it may look like at the beginning. James, many of us are praying for you. James Martin, SJ is a most vocal promotor of the LGBTI lobby within the Roman Catholic Church.
Ugh. I'm not sure that some of Cardinal Parolin's statements even make sense. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, during his official visit to Kiev, Jun 17, 2016. Shutterstock.com Stephen Kokx | https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/f...t-to-go-down-into-details-about-vigano-testim Francis’ top cardinal: ‘better not to go down into details’ about Viganò testimony VATICAN CITY, August 30, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State, echoed Pope Francis’ talking points about accusations that the sex abuse crisis had implicated the Pope during a recent interview he gave to Italian newspaper La Stampa. When asked to comment about Archbishop Viganò’s detailed 11-page testimony released last week, Parolin, like his boss, took a pass. “It's better not to go down into details on such things,” he said, according to a translation of the interview provided by Rorate Caeli. “I repeat that which the Pope says: you read it, and make your judgement. The text speaks for itself.” [emphasis added] Pope Francis told reporters on his return flight from Ireland this weekend that he was "not going to say a word" about allegations that he covered-up for ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. “Read the statement carefully yourselves and make your own judgment. I am not going to say a word about this,” the Pope said. Parolin, considered by many as a top contender for the papacy at the next conclave, said he is experiencing “great pain” right now. "It is not possible to express anything else than pain when faced with these things, great pain. I hope that we all work in the search of truth and justice, that these be the points of reference, and not other things. Certainly the situation is not worrying at all.” [emphasis added] La Stampa asked Parolin how the Holy Father is doing given the “difficult” last several days. “From what I have seen…he seems serene. The Pope is a great grace, even faced with these things that obviously create so much bitterness and also restlessness.” [emphasis added] Parolin said that the Pope has “taken a very clear position” on “the issue of abuses” in the church. [emphasis added] Viganò released an eleven-page testimony last week accusing Pope Francis, among other high-ranking prelates in the Vatican and in the United States, of promoting ex-cardinal Archbishop Theodore McCarrick despite knowing of his reputation for sexual abuse of seminarians and priests. *** New evidence backs Viganò’s claim about Benedict-imposed sanctions on McCarrick Dorothy Cummings McLean | https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/n...im-about-benedict-imposed-sanctions-on-mccarr WASHINGTON, DC, August 30, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Archbishop Carlo Viganò’s claim that Pope Benedict gave sanctions to now ex-Cardinal McCarrick, one of which included that he was to “leave the seminary,” appears to be backed by new evidence that McCarrick did indeed abruptly leave the seminary in which he lived in 2008. Speaking to Catholic News Agency (CNA), two sources said that they were present when the Apostolic Nuncio in Washington, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, informed McCarrick that he had to leave. “Two sources present at a 2008 meeting between McCarrick and Sambi told CNA that the nuncio instructed McCarrick to leave the seminary at that time. According to those sources, Sambi told McCarrick his departure was the direct instruction of Pope Benedict XVI,” reported Ed Condon of CNA. This tallies with the account of Archbishop Viganò, former Apostolic Nuncio to the USA, that in 2008 Benedict XVI had imposed sanctions on McCarrick, including eviction from the Washington diocesan seminary in which he lived. “Pope Benedict had imposed on Cardinal McCarrick sanctions similar to those now imposed on him by Pope Francis: the cardinal was to leave the seminary where he was living, he was forbidden to celebrate [Mass] in public, to participate in public meetings, to give lectures, to travel, with the obligation of dedicating himself to a life of prayer and penance,” wrote Viganò in his August 22 detailed report. Viganò claimed that Benedict had been made aware that the Archbishop Emeritus of Washington had engaged in sexual misconduct with seminarians and priests and wanted McCarrick to dedicate himself to a life of penance and prayer. When the former Nuncio’s testimony was released last week, the current Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, denied that he ever received “documentation or information from the Holy See specific to Cardinal McCarrick’s behavior or any of the prohibitions on his life and ministry suggested by Archbishop Vigano.” Benedict had appointed Wuerl Archbishop of Washington on May 16, 2006. CNA reporter Condon wrote that McCarrick did leave the seminary at the end of 2008 and moved to the parish of St. Thomas the Apostle in the “upscale” Woodley Park neighborhood of Washington, DC. One of the priests living there at the time told CNA that he had to move out of his rooms to make room for a “mystery VIP.” He told CNA: “It was all very sudden. I was moved around but given another room in the rectory.” He was told by his pastor that McCarrick was moving there. The unnamed priest also told CNA that he had been told the Cardinal was “no longer allowed” to live in the seminary. CNA’s source also spoke of extensive renovations to the rectory before McCarrick moved in. “There was significant construction to create his suite, which took over two prior suites and two full baths, as well as the single guest room next to me which was converted into a private chapel for McCarrick’s exclusive use,” the priest told CNA. McCarrick apparently took up residence there in either late February or early March 2009. But despite all this work and expense to one of its own rectories, the Archdiocese of Washington is denying that it had anything to do with McCarrick’s move. Condon reported that the archdiocesan spokesman, Ed McFadden, told CNA on Monday that “Archbishop McCarrick typically made his own housing arrangements and did not directly involve the Archdiocese of Washington.” Since the Archdiocese of New York announced in June that a “credible and substantiated” allegation had been made that McCarrick had, as a priest in New York, sexually abused a teenage boy, McCarrick’s reputation for sexual misconduct with seminarians, once an open secret among members of the clergy, has become common knowledge. In the wake of the McCarrick scandal, the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report into clerical sexual abuse of minors has criticized Washington’s current archbishop, Bishop Emeritus of Pittsburgh, Donald Wuerl. Wuerl stands accused not only of having protected clerical sex abusers in his old diocese but of endangering seminarians in Washington by allowing Cardinal McCarrick to live among them. Archbishop Carlo Mario Viganò dismissed Wuerl’s denials that he knew about McCarrick’s reputation very strongly in his statement, saying, “The Cardinal lies shamelessly and prevails upon his Chancellor, Monsignor Antonicelli, to lie as well.” *** Related Articles from Aug 30, 2018: Viganò wept after he prepared his testimony: journalist By Dorothy Cummings McLean Wall Street Journal: Pope must ‘explain the truth’ about McCarrick cover-up By Dorothy Cummings McLean Rush Limbaugh blasts Pope for putting climate change ahead of sex abuse scandal By Lianne Laurence Church Militant claims Cdl. Wuerl fleeing to Rome to avoid U.S. arrest for abuse cover-up By Claire Chretien Sorry, Cdl. Maradiaga. Edward Pentin is no ‘hitman’ and here’s proof By Dorothy Cummings McLean John Paul II’s biographer praises Vatican whistleblower Viganò: ‘courageous, honest, loyal’ By Dorothy Cummings McLean Ave Maria University president slams Viganò, Cardinal Burke By Dorothy Cummings McLean Breaking News Exclusive: Wuerl Bombshell By Church Militant • August 30, 2018 • 547 Comments Read more
To my ears, he is sounding like a person cornered, who is trying to seem nonchalant about the scandal. Better for who? Not for the Church as a whole, not for the sexual abuse victims, and not for the confused laity. It must be painful to suddenly have one's wrongdoings exposed. The situation is not worrying??? At all??? Who is he trying to kid? Maybe he is trying to reassure himself
Via Father Z.. 30 Aug 1568 – St Pius V’s Bull against “gay” clergy Posted on 30 August 2018 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf At The Josias, which a friend and patron of this blog told my about recently there is this post. It is perhaps a coincidence that today is the anniversary of the promulgation of this document, even as the Roman titular church of Card. Cocopalmerio caved in. You might remember that he did kabuki fan dances with ostrich plumes to justify communion for adulterers. Confronted with clerical depravity in Rome, Pius V did not say, “Who am I to judge?” On August 30, 1568, Pope St. Pius V issued the bull Horrendum Illud scelus. We present it now on its four hundred and fiftieth anniversary. –The Editors Horrendum illud scelus, quo pollutae foedataeque Civitates a tremendo Dei iudicio conflagrarunt, acerbissimum Nobis dolorem inurit, graviterque animum nostrum commovet, ut ad illud, quantum potest, comprimendum, studia nostra conferamus. That horrible crime, by which corrupt and obscene cities were destroyed by fire through divine condemnation, [hence, “sodomy”] causes us most bitter sorrow and shocks our mind, impelling us to repress such a crime with the greatest possible zeal. § 1. Sane Lateranensi Concilio dignoscitur constitutum, ut quicumque Clerici, illa incontinentia, quae contra naturam est, propter quam ira Dei venit in filios diffidentiae, deprehensi fuerint laborare, a Clero deiiciantur, vel ad agendam in Monasteriis poenitentiam detrudantur. § 1. Quite opportunely the Fifth Lateran Council [1512-1517] issued this decree: “Let any member of the clergy caught in that vice against nature, given that the wrath of God falls over the sons of perfidy, be removed from the clerical order or forced to do penance in a monastery” (chap. 4, X, V, 31). § 2. Verum ne tanti flagitii contagium, impunitatis spe, quae maxima peccandi illecebra est, fidentius invalescat, Clericos huius nefarii criminis reos, gravius ulciscendos deliberavimus, ut qui animae interitum non horrescunt, hos certe deterreat civilium legum vindex gladius saecularis. § 2. So that the contagion of such a grave offense may not advance with greater audacity by taking advantage of impunity, which is the greatest incitement to sin, and so as to more severely punish the clerics who are guilty of this nefarious crime and who are not frightened by the death of their souls, we determine that they should be handed over to the severity of the secular authority, which enforces civil law. § 3. ltaque quod Nos iam in ipso Pontificatus nostri principio hac de re decrevimus, plenius nunc, fortiusque persequi intendentes, omnes, et quoscumque Presbyteros, et alios Clericos saeculares, et regulares, cuiuscumque gradus, et dignitatis, tam dirum nefas exercentes, omni privilegio clericali, omnique officio, dignitate, et beneficio Ecclesiastico praesentis canonis auctoritate privamus. Ita quod per ludicem Ecclesiasticum degradati, potestati statim saeculari tradantur, qui de eis illud idem capiat supplicium, quod in laicos hoc in exitio devolutos, legitimis reperitur sanctionibus con stitutum. § 3. Therefore, wishing to pursue with greater rigor than we have exerted since the beginning of our pontificate, we establish that any priest or member of the clergy, either secular or regular, who commits such an execrable crime, by force of the present law be deprived of every clerical privilege, of every post, dignity and ecclesiastical benefit, and having been degraded by an ecclesiastical judge, let him be immediately delivered to the secular authority to be put to death, as mandated by law as the fitting punishment for laymen who have sunk into this abyss. [Use your imagination and review the Rite of Degradation of a Priest or Bishop. After which the walking tragedy is handed over.] Nulli ergo, etc. Nothing to the contrary withstanding, etc. [Bull. Rom., tom. 4, III, p. 33] S. Pius V, const. Horrendum, 30 aug. 1568. A brief note on the continuing relevance of Horrendum illud: It is occasionally suggested by critics of integralism that the existence of bad or corrupt clergy proves that integralism, with its high concept of the authority of the church, is unworkable. This argument taken to its logical conclusion would of course rule out any authority in the here-below. For integralists, however, the existence of lamentable and execrable corruption in the Church, far from calling her authority into question, rather demonstrates the need for it. Pope St. Pius V responded to the vicious immorality then widespread among the clergy repeatedly and with force, most prominently, perhaps, here in this bull. His response offers us even today an exemplar of church-state relations and of the medicinal power of the law. What do you supposed the civil penalties were like? I note that the Bull says “removed” OR “forced to do penance. Right now I am in the UP of MI. I was told that a prison has closed up here. Perhaps the Church could take it over and put all the guys there who need time to think. They would be required to say Masses of reparation and, as a canonist suggested, to earn their keep they would transcribed nullity process interviews. I can think of a few other things.
If Rico Act happens and Cardinal Wuerl escapes to the Vatican. That will be the end of Our Holy Father. I was part of the system in my early life and the politics of the Catholic Church is powerful...because of code of silence. Even in the seminary, you saw the different groups...even how priest chose their friends. The Catholic Church has many secrets good and bad...Arch Bishop Vigano just broke every secret code. He will either be alone or the truth will start to be revealed. It looks like Bishops are joining. This war is just starting...this will be purely spiritual. How do you remove evil and demons? With Prayers and Fasting. As the world continues to fall in humanism. The Church will be moving towards a spiritual awakening. Note: Some of the stuff I heard today brought tears to my eyes. Sad Sad Sad
Well he's not hiding in my place. My two dogs never liked the guy. Is this what Francis has reduced the Church too? Some kind of syndicate for sheltering on the run Child abusers?
Tobin throwing the Pope under the bus????? Rhode Island Bishop Calls For Pope To Be Investigated Following a letter from Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò that said Pope Francis knew of the coverup of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, had given comfort to a “homosexual current” in the Vatican, and should therefore resign, Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has called for the pope to be investigated. MORE: http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20180830/bishop-tobin-joins-call-for-investigation-of-pope
Pope knowingly gave Vatican apartment to gay priest later caught in cocaine-fuelled orgy ROME, Italy, August 29, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis gave a Vatican apartment to a priest who was later caught hosting a drug-fueled homosexual orgy in that same apartment despite being warned about the priest’s grave problems, a highly placed Vatican source told LifeSiteNews in an exclusive interview. It was Francis himself, the source said, who made sure that a homosexual secretary of his friend Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio would obtain a privileged apartment in the Vatican. Cardinal Coccopalmerio, then president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, and one of Pope Francis’ closest collaborators and ardent supporters, had spoken in 2014 about the “positive elements” in homosexual relationships. Vatican police arrested Coccopalmerio’s secretary Monsignor Luigi Capozzi, in a raid last year after they broke up the cocaine-fueled homosexual party in the Vatican apartment next to St. Peter’s Basilica. Vatican gendarmerie had conducted the raid on the homosexual orgy after tenants in the building complained repeatedly about constant traffic of visitors at all hours of the night to the building - which was used by various high-ranking churchmen, including prefects, presidents and secretaries to the Roman Curia. LifeSiteNews’ source in Rome said that then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) Cardinal Gerhard Müller had tried to get an apartment for one of his secretaries at the Palazzo del Sant'Ufficio, where the CDF is also located. There was an apartment free at the time of Müller’s inquiry, and the cardinal submitted a request for his secretary. But then, the source said, Pope Francis informed Cardinal Müller via a personal note that this apartment was not available for his secretary because Cardinal Coccopalmerio needed it for his secretary Luigi Capozzi. “That was then the same apartment which – in the summer of 2017, and after complaints from neighbors – was raided by the police,” the source said, “in order to end a homo party with large amounts of cocaine, which Capozzi himself – at the Palazzo del Sant'Ufficio – had organized for his homosexual friends.” LifeSiteNews had inquired with another well-informed Vatican source about the then-breaking Viganò story and the archbishop's allegations that Pope Francis knew of Archbishop McCarrick's serial abuse of seminarians and priests. In the course of the discussion of Vatican handling of sexual abuse claims, the source stated that the pope had been made aware of issues with Capozzi, however, he let him have the apartment anyway. “Pope Francis had been informed by someone about Luigi Capozzi's problems,” the source said, “but he gave him anyway the apartment.” Confirming Viganò's claim of prior restrictions placed upon then Cardinal McCarrick, that initial source also told LifeSiteNews as well that several people in the Vatican knew about the restrictions imposed by Pope Benedict XVI. The source said further that Francis’ abrupt dismissal of Müller as CDF prefect in June 2017, along with Francis’ earlier similarly abrupt removal of three CDF priests, stemmed from disagreements as to the handling of abuse cases. Word of the pope obtaining a privileged Vatican apartment for the homosexual secretary of his friend while having been told of concerns with the priest comes as the pontiff continues to decline comment on the bombshell Viganò testimonyimplicating the pope and several senior prelates in covering up Archbishop Theodore McCarrick’s alleged sexual abuse of seminarians and priests. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/b...atican-apartment-to-gay-priest-later-caught-i
Bishop against Bishop...the prophecy has come to pass. The Shepherds are taking a stand...no going back now.
earthtoangels, Are you confusing Bishop Tobin of Rhode Island with the recently appointed Cardinal Tobin of Newark, New Jersey? Safe in the Barque of Peter!
BREAKING: Archbishop Chaput calls on Pope Francis to cancel Youth Synod in light of abuse crisis August 31, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia told a conference that had met to discuss the “young people” of the Church that in light of the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church he had written to Pope Francis asking him to cancel the upcoming Youth Synod set to take place in Rome. “The bishops would have absolutely no credibility” in the upcoming Youth Synod, Chaput told the Cardinal’s Forum, an annual gathering to provide academic formation of seminarians and continuing education for lay people, yesterday. The synod's planned dates are set for October 3-28, 2018. The August 30 panel discussion, which took place at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, was on the topic of “Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment.” Some 300 participated in the event. Archbishop Chaput said the Youth Synod should be canceled. “I have written the Holy Father and called on him to cancel the upcoming synod on young people. Right now, the bishops would have absolutely no credibility in addressing this topic,” he said. Instead of having a youth synod, the Archbishop proposed that a synod should be held to address the topic of the bishops themselves. “I have called on him (Pope Francis), in its place, to begin making plans for a synod on the life of bishops,” he said. Chaput's call for a synod on bishops reflects a similar call by Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth, England. Egan has also written to Pope Francis asking for an "extraordinary synod" on priestly life so as to deal with the "clerical sex abuse" crisis. “I suggest the Synod be devoted to the identity of being a priest/bishop, to devising guidance on life-style and supports for celibacy, to proposing a rule of life for priests/bishops and to establishing appropriate forms of priestly/episcopal accountability and supervision,” Egan wrote in the letter that he made public. Archbishop Chaput’s call for the youth synod to be canceled comes at a time when accusations of clergy-abuse cover-up plague top leaders within the Church, including Pope Francis. Last week, Archbishop Viganó release a detailed testimony in which he claimed that Pope Francis covered up for now ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick despite having been given information that the Cardinal was a serial abuser who preyed on seminarians. A working document for the upcoming Synod on Youth released in March — allegedly drafted by young people — stated that Catholic teaching on “contraception, abortion, homosexuality, cohabitation” is “especially controversial” and that “they may want the Church to change her teaching.” Faithful Catholics have raised concern that just as the two Synods on the Family were used by key figures within the Church to undermine the Church’s teaching on marriage and the Eucharist, so too do they fear that the Youth Synod will have an analogous agenda. Editor's note: Pete Baklinski contributed to this report. Note: Follow LifeSite's new Catholic twitter account to stay up to date on all Church-related news. Click here: @LSNCatholic https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/b...n-pope-francis-to-cancel-youth-synod-in-light
