The Pope's Odd Response To Vigano's Testimony

The pope was in Ireland at the Wicked Mangling of Families event that was just winding down when Archbishop Vigano's testimony was made public.  Today he flew home and gave another interview.  The patterns of the past few years have shown that when the pope flies and talks with the reporters on that plane, nonsense often billows forth from his mouth.  Today was no exception.  The only difference is that it didn't take endless bloviation to reveal his inner mind.

Of course he was asked about his reaction to Vigano's revelations.  Let's examine his remarks bit by bit.

• "Read the statement carefully and make your own judgments".  Who among us, if we were made aware of spurious accusations against us regarding some heinous crime, would simply tell the public to "make your own judgments"?  I for one would react with outrage at my name being pilloried and slandered.  Perhaps the pope can't - because the statement is not slander?
• He believes in the "journalistic capacity to draw your own conclusions".  Look - either the statements are true, or they are false.  They stand on their own factual merit - not upon some "journalistic capacity".  Talk about a cop-out response!

This is quite similar to the cop-out that McCarrick tried initially when he said that he "didn't recall" that alleged episode of abuse.  Many of us cannot remember everything we did thirty years ago, but we know damned well we did not rape children and we can say so with absolute certainty.  Why couldn't McCarrick?  Why couldn't the pope, this morning?

The pope's utterly dismissive attitude is contrasted to that of Cardinal Burke, who said that "the declarations made by a prelate of the authority of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò must be totally taken to heart by those responsible in the Church."  The cardinal went on to call for a thorough investigation into these allegations.

In his homily today, Bishop Joseph Strickland of the Diocese of Tyler TX also called for an investigation, adding that he found the allegations to be credible.  Lending weight to the credibility of the allegations is an account published by England's Catholic Herald.  It recounts that Pope Francis reduced sanctions against a number of clergy abusers of minors.  The article is from February of last year, but still it demonstrates an imprudent tendency of the pope to be lenient with those who pose threats to children.  The article contrasts the pope's practice with that of Pope Benedict, who laicized about 800 priests and who hardly ever granted clemency to the abusers.