This is good - from Bishop Barron.
I have to let my participation in any discussion fade away. I hurt too many feelings with my commentary. I'm so sorry.
The McCarrick Mess | Word on Fire
So what should be done? The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has no juridical or canonical authority to discipline bishops. And even if it tried to launch an investigation, it has, at the moment, very little credibility. Only the Pope has juridical and disciplinary powers in regard to bishops. Hence, I would suggest (as a lowly back-bencher auxiliary) that the bishops of the United States—all of us—petition the Holy Father to form a team, made up mostly of faithful lay Catholics skilled in forensic investigation, and to empower them to have access to all of the relevant documentation and financial records. Their task should be to determine how Archbishop McCarrick managed, despite his widespread reputation for iniquity, to rise through the ranks of the hierarchy and to continue, in his retirement years, to function as a roving ambassador for the Church and to have a disproportionate influence on the appointment of bishops. They should ask the ecclesial version of Sen. Howard Baker’s famous questions: “What did the responsible parties know and when did they know it?” Only after these matters are settled will we know what the next steps ought to be. - Read more here
I read this piece last night and as always, Bishop Barron's commentary gave me hope and new direction on where to go.
ReplyDelete"The principal work of the Church at this devastating moment ought to be prayer, the conscious and insistent invoking of Christ and the saints.
In the meantime, and above all, we should ask the heavenly powers to fight with us and for us. I might suggest especially calling upon the one who crushes the head of the serpent."
Thank you Bishop Barron and thank you Terry for posting his comments.
He is one of the very best - God keep him safe!
DeleteI read this yesterday also and appreciated that he sees clearly that it is laypeople who must carry out the investigation. Afterwards I wondered: To whom will the findings be presented? If they must first go through the Vatican, they will get scrubbed and every one of their teeth will get pulled. We need for such a team of laypeople to report the findings directly to us, without going through bishops or, worst of all, Vatican officials.
ReplyDelete