Was Father Manelli Framed?

Father Stefano Manelli is one of two founders of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate (FFI).  This past year that order, devoted to the traditional Mass and by all accounts growing and thriving, was all but obliterated through the machinations of Father Fidenzio Volpi, Apostolic Commissioner of the FFI.  Father Volpi was appointed to that position by Pope Francis himself.  Owing to Volpi's "work", the FFI is a shadow of its former self.

Comes now the news from Rorate Caeli that Father Volpi has been found guilty of spreading "defamation and lies".  He'll have to pay 20,000 euros to the Manelli family as well as issue public apologies.  So now it appears that the FFI was deliberately reduced to tatters; for what reason we can only speculate.  Volpi apparently set about to destroy Father Manelli's good name; now his own is besmirched.

Now the question is, "will Pope Francis allow the FFI to reestablish itself and will they be allowed to pursue their holy calling?"  In short, will the pope do right by the FFI?

Strange Papal Treatment Of Two Priests

We all know of the shameful treatment that has been meted out on the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.  Under Pope Benedict XVI, this traditional order was celebrating the Latin Mass and had a stellar number of vocations.  That changed when the order was basically quashed for reasons that are spurious at best.  Moreover, one of the now-elderly founders, Father Stefano Manelli, has been exiled to an out-of-the-way place and essentially placed under "house arrest".  He was even forbidden to leave the place on his 81st birthday to visit his parents' graves and celebrate Mass.  By all accounts Father Manelli is an exemplary priest.  All this is being done with approval from the highest offices of the Vatican.

On the other hand we have the case of Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, a progressive priest who just had his 29-year suspension lifted by Pope Francis.  This is a priest who has called Ronald Reagan a butcher while singing the praises of Daniel Ortega and the Sandanistas, and of Fidel Castro, one of the most brutal of the modern dictators.  He also espouses liberation theology.  He held public office and was suspended by Pope John Paul II when he refused to step down from public office.  There is no record of him recanting his public disobedience.

So here we have it: a backwards set of priorities when it comes to the pope dealing with his priests-sons.  He leaves to languish in exile a faithful priest while lifting the suspension of a priest who is most likely still a very progressive priest.  We all can see what is wrong with this picture.  Why does His Holiness not see it?

Strange Double Standards From The Vatican

Two days ago came the news that a flagrantly dissenting priest of Ireland, Father Sean Fagan, has had all sanctions lifted.  Six years ago he had been silenced because he refused to cease his dissent in matters pertaining to sexual morality.  It has been said that he was an advocate for the liberalization of abortion.  The news report does not indicate any repentance on Father Fagan's part.  There are intimations that the lifting of sanctions came about as a result, at least in part, of intervention by Pope Francis.

Contrast this treatment with that of Father Stefano Maneli, a founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.  They are the order that has been wildly successful in promoting the Traditional Latin Mass - until some malcontents managed to bend the ears of influential Vatican officials to stifle the order.  The elderly Father Maneli is essentially under "house arrest", forbidden to visit his parents' graves to celebrate his birthday.

I am having grave difficulty reconciling this strange double-standard.  One the one hand we have a flagrantly dissident priest having his sanctions lifted, out of the blue with no conditions placed upon him: conditions such as fidelity to the Magisterium, etc.  On the other hand we have draconian measures taken against a faithful religious order and no justice in sight for these Franciscans.  All this has occurred with the Pope's approval, if not at his direction.  How does this work?  Where's the "method to the madness"?  OR, what's the motivation to the madness?