As Cardinal Pell Is Buried, He's Acclaimed a "Saint for Our Times," While Abuse Survivors and LGBTQ People Protest

As Rod McGuirk reports, as Cardinal Pell's funeral is held today, police have refused to permit LGBTQ-rights protesters outside the Catholic cathedral in Sydney, and have sought a court injunction against them.

Telling Truth about Benedict's Legacy re: Clerical Sexual Abuse of Minors, and Commentary on Cardinal Pell's Legacy re: Abuse

Adam Horowitz offers one of the best pieces of commentary I've seen on how far too many Catholic journalists and academics have chosen to falsify the legacy of Pope Benedict vis-a-vis the abuse crisis, by claiming that he was somehow a champion of addressing the problem of clerical sexual abuse of minors — when he decidedly was not. 

"George Pell AC (born 8 June 1941) Is an Australian Cardinal of the Catholic Church and Convicted Child Sex Offender": Questions We Might Ask

Plus ça change: for people who profess to be all about taking history and tradition seriously, many self-professed Catholic conservatives/traditionalists seem uncommonly unwilling to learn anything at all from history. Several decades ago, there George Weigel and the folks at First Things were, loudly proclaiming the innocence of the notorious serial abuser of youth and drug addict Father Marcial Maciel and defaming those like Jason Berry who did their journalistic duty and told the world the truth about what Maciel was doing — and how top Catholic officials were covering up his activities.

The Pell Conviction in Light of Frédéric Martel's Exposé of the Gay "Parish" Inside the Vatican: Twisted Connection of Catholic Officials to Gay Community

Comment: George Pell thought the boys would never tell. One did - and millions believe https://t.co/jiNu0Ysv2Y

— The Sydney Morning Herald (@smh) March 13, 2019

In commenting on Cardinal Pell's conviction and sentence, Michael Cook's Lessons from Cardinal Pell’s 6-year jail sentence makes a move that should trouble all of us concerned about shoring up the legitimacy of court systems and criminal justice systems in democratic societies. Cook opens by reminding us of that Pell was conficted on the basis of the testimony of one person testifying behind closed doors.

The Pell Case, the Continuing Vast Gulf Between What Francis Says re: Abuse and What Really Happens, and the Anger of Catholic People

How many more mornings will we wake up to read of yet another cardinal convicted by a court? And yet gobs of Catholics still have their cudgels out, swinging away defensively to defend the tribe — missing the kairotic point in the most spectacular way possible.

— 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖 𝙳. 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 (@wdlindsy) March 7, 2019

Another set of items that have gotten my attention lately, with a theme binding them together:

Why Blaming Gay Priests for Catholic Abuse Situation Will Not Help Anything (Plus News about Cardinal Pell, Anti-Gay Hardliner)

As I posted my posting two days ago with an assortment of reports about the sexual abuse of vulnerable people in Christian churches, I had decided that I'd do a follow-up posting featuring some valuable commentary from Jamie Manson about Pope Francis' "worries" about gay priests. In my view, the critique/discussion of comments by top Catholic officials like the ones Francis has made to Father Fernando Prado about homosexuality and gay priests needs to go hand in hand with reports about abuse of vulnerable people in Christian churches. Where a plethora of reports from various churches, including the Catholic church, demonstrates plainly that the vulnerable people being abused by priests and pastors include females…. Demonstrating that the gays-are-the-problem analysis is a red herring if we really want to get to the root of sexual abuse of vulnerable people in faith communities….

"A Broad, Deep, Clerical Conspiracy" and "Bishop Accountability Has Proved a Contradiction in Terms": More Commentary

And there's more: here's another diptych from recent commentary that I want to offer for your consideration — about a totally different topic than the one discussed in the diptych I just provided in my previous posting:

Quote for Day: Why Scott Pruitt Kept Opulent Dinner with Cimate Change Denying Cardinal Pell a Secret — "It Was a No-Brainer"

Rachel Olding in an article entitled "Why George Pell dined with under-fire EPA's Scott Pruitt in secret," on Cardinal Pell's secret opulent dinner with climate change denier and Trump's EPA head Scott Pruitt — and why Pruitt sought to keep the dinner secret:

Cardinal Accused of Sex Crimes Has Secret Dinner with U.S. Official Attacking Climate Change Findings and Federalist Society Members: Where's the Punchline?

Think about this - a leading curial cardinal, George Pell, is meeting secretly with those in the Trump administration whose main goal in life is to undermine climate action, which Pope Francis sees as one of the leading moral issues in the world today. https://t.co/TIwfxaooQf

— Massimo Faggioli (@MassimoFaggioli) May 11, 2018

Pell Paints Himself as Victim: But "George Thought Men Had to Be Men and That Pansies Belonged in the Garden" — Homophobic Backdrop to Pell Story

Pell says he's the victim of a witch hunt.

Hot Off the Presses: Cardinal Pell Facing Criminal Charges with Multiple Complainants

SYDNEY (AP) -- Australian police say they are charging a top Vatican cardinal with historical sexual assault offenses.

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 29, 2017

Hot off the presses: "Cardinal George Pell charged with multiple sexual offences: Third-ranking official in the Vatican charged by Victoria police in move that will send shockwaves around the Catholic church."

"Spotlight" Shines Brighter, Wins Best Feature Oscar!

Well. This is amazing news to have awakened to this morning. Even as His Eminence Cardinal George Pell was saying the following in Rome after his security guards had strongarmed Australian journalists,*

Call to Cardinal Pell to Come Home and Face the Music Ruffles His Eminence's Feathers

Even in Lent we can laugh, right? Though sometimes it's through our tears.

Update on Story That Vatican's Telling Bishops They Need Not Report Abuse to Authorities: Cardinal O'Malley Issues Statement (and Where's Pope Francis?)

Last week, I noted that it was being reported that the Vatican is informing newly appointed bishops that they do not have an obligation to report sexual abuse of minors by priests to criminal officials. As I noted, reports were indicating that, in issuing such advice to new bishops, the Vatican was relying on a training manual by French priest Tony Anatrella. Anatrella is a well-known opponent of "gender theory" and of more affirming approaches to LGBT people, and he seems intent on continuing the scapegoating meme that seeks to make gay priests responsible for the abuse crisis.

Charles Pierce and Joelle Casteix on the Rot in the NY Archdiocese: The Sordid Story of Father Peter Miqueli and What Cardinal Dolan Knew When

Until yesterday, the story of what's happening with Father Peter Miqueli and former USCCB president Cardinal Timothy Dolan in the New York archdiocese seemed largely confined to the tabloid news, and for that reason, I haven't commented on it. I'm averse to wading through tabloid slime, I'm far from confident that what the tabloids report is accurately reported, and stories they break have a nasty way of twisting and turning, leaving folks who comment precipitously on them  embarrassed at having trusted a tabloid report.

Sensational Austrialian T.V. Interview with Peter Saunders of Papal Abuse Commission About Cardinal George Pell: "Massive Thorn in the Side of Pope Francis's Papacy"

Last evening, "60 Minutes Australia" aired a segment about Cardinal George Pell, whom Pope Francis has brought to the Vatican to clean up the Vatican Bank. In light of allegations made in hearings of the Australian royal commission into child abuse, "60 Minutes" interviews papal abuse commission member Peter Saunders, an abuse survivor. The interview is online here.

News in Catholic Abuse Crisis: Continued Outrage that Finn Will Ordain Seminarians, St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese Under New Criminal Investigation, Sensational Accusations Against Vatican Official Cardinal Pell

In the area of the abuse crisis in the Catholic church, several stories and pieces of commentary in recent days that deserve attention, I think:

Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage: When "Pro-Life" Is Anything But — Robert Mickens Comments on National March for Life in Rome

At National Catholic Reporter Robert Mickens comments on the American-style "pro-life" march, the National March for Life, that took place in Rome last Sunday. As he notes, Cardinal Raymond Burke attended the rally, and Cardinal George Pell addressed a group gathered on Saturday in anticipation of the conference, assuring these traditionalist Catholics that the synod on the family won't do a blessed thing won't change any of the "tradition" that Pell and other traditionalists imagine is written in stone and derived from the gospels, though much of it is a late development in the history of Catholic thought.

Christmas Miracle Comes Early! Cardinal Pell Finds € Hundreds of Millions "Tucked Away": Catholics React

Christmas miracles have come early this year, it seems. As Gaia Planigiani reports for New York Times yesterday, Pope Francis's Vatican finance watchdog Cardinal Pell announced Wednesday that he has found hundreds of millions of euros "tucked away" in accounts that the Vatican had no notion it owned.

Massimo Faggioli on Shifting Tectonic Plates of Global Catholicism: Europe and Latin America at Forefront of New Openness, North America, Africa, and English-Speaking Catholics Determined to Resist

Massimo Faggioli in Conversation US on how the synod on the family reveals a tectonic shift in global Catholicism, in which old alliances and loyalties are breaking down and new ones forming: