The pseudonym "Philo Vaihinger" has been abandoned. All posts have been and are written by me, Joseph Auclair.

Monday, August 20, 2018

The heat is on

Cardinal Wuerl’s Name Spray-Painted Over On North Catholic H.S. Sign

Last week, thousands of people signed an online petition which was calling for his name to be removed from Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School.

The Pittsburgh diocese has not said if it might consider changing the name.

On Monday, someone apparently spray-painted over his name on the sign outside of the school.

Last week, Attorney General Josh Shapiro accused Cardinal Wuerl of protecting child predators.

“Child rape is rape, whether it occurred in the 1980s, ‘90s, or 2018,” said Shapiro. “It is never acceptable, and it is never okay to cover it up as Bishop [David] Zubik did and as Cardinal Wuerl did.”

Wuerl presided over 32 accused priests during his 18 years leading the Pittsburgh diocese.

Pennsylvania AG: Cardinal under scrutiny over report on priest abuse 'is not telling the truth'

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is accusing Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, of "not telling the truth" as he attempts to defend himself amid criticism and calls for his resignation over the release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report detailing allegations of widespread predatory behavior by more than 300 priests against more than 1,000 children.

The report is critical of Wuerl, who served as the bishop of Pittsburgh for 18 years, from 1988 to 2006, and describes him as one of the bishops who helped cover up abusive behavior. 

The cardinal's defenders note that he acted to discipline some priests as bishop in Pittsburgh and even fought the Vatican against an order to reinstate a predator priest. 

After the release of the grand jury report on Tuesday, Wuerl said in a statement that it "confirms that I acted with diligence, with concern for the victims and to prevent future acts of abuse."

The Pennsylvania attorney general disagrees. In a statement to CNN, Shapiro said, "Cardinal Wuerl is not telling the truth. 

Many of his statements in response to the Grand Jury Report are directly contradicted by the Church's own documents and records from their Secret Archives. Offering misleading statements now only furthers the cover up." 

Shapiro added that the cardinal "should heed the words of Pope Francis who validated our work in Pennsylvania and support the recommendations of the Grand Jury."

Says the CNN story in propria persona,

Some claims that Wuerl has made to defend himself do not stand up to scrutiny.

Victims want more than words

But the church still acts to protect the sex criminal priests.

Juan Carlos Cruz, who has in the past been critical of Francis' response to sex abuse in the church, said he found part of the Pope's letter encouraging.

. . . .

On Monday, Cruz, who now lives in Philadelphia, said there was a change in vocabulary coming from the Pope and the Vatican.

"There's new language," said Cruz, who spent a week in May talking to Francis about sex abuse. 

"They talk about crimes. They talk about a culture of death. They talk about a culture of abuse and cover-up. Before, they were omissions, sins, which is terrible."

Francis' letter, he said, "talks about going to local justice, how bishops don't turn the perpetrators (over) to local justice because they're not obligated to do so, and that is a horrible crime."

At the same time, Cruz is disheartened by what he said was the church's fight against measures to bring clergy to justice, he said. 

He specifically cited lobbying efforts to derail Pennsylvania state Rep. Mark Rozzi's proposal to suspend the statute of limitations for victims of child sex abuse.

"They have to lobby to help survivors, not to fight them," he said.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has today a front page online poll asking whether people think Wuerl should resign as Bishop of Washington.

85% of respondents said Yes, as of 4 pm 8/20. There have been 369 responses so far.

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