A former top Vatican official has accused Pope Francis of having known of allegations of sex abuse by a prominent US cardinal for five years before accepting his resignation last month, and has called on the pontiff to resign. In an 11-page letter given to conservative Roman Catholic media outlets during the Pope’s visit to Ireland, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano said he had told Pope Francis in 2013 Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had faced extensive accusations of sexually abusing lower ranking seminarians and priests. Vatican officials declined to make an immediate comment on the letter on Sunday. McCarrick became the first cardinal in living memory to resign his position in the church leadership, after a review concluded claims he had sexually abused a 16-year-old boy were credible. He was one of the highest ranking church officials accused of sex abuse in a scandal that has rocked the 1.2 billion member faith since reports of priests abusing children – and bishops covering up for them – were first published by The Boston Globe in 2002. Since then, patterns of widespread abuse of children have been reported across the United States and Europe, in Chile and Australia, undercutting the church’s moral authority and taking a toll on its membership and finances. Mr Vigano said, in the letter reported by the conservative US National Catholic Register, he had told Pope Francis of allegations against McCarrick in June 2013, shortly after the new pontiff’s election as pope by his fellow cardinals. Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Show all 55 1 /55 Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis celebrates the Holy Mass at the Phoenix Park, in Dublin AP Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis arrives at Phoenix Park for a Papal Mass of the World Meeting of Families in Dublin EPA Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures A vigil takes place at the site of the mass grave which contained the remains of 796 named babies from the Bon Secours Mother and Baby home in Tuam. The vigil coincides with the Phoenix park mass which is taking place in Dublin held by Pope Francis.<doc-sep>A scathing letter attacking Pope Francis over claims that he covered up allegations of sexual abuse by a high-profile American cardinal has brought into focus a crisis in the Catholic Church. The 11-page text, written by noted anti-gay conservative Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, calls for Francis to resign over his alleged negligence. Vigano accuses Francis of covering up sexual abuse allegations against ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in a letter that comes as multiple sexual abuse scandals again rock the church. The letter has sown division among leaders of Catholic Church in the United States. One longtime Vatican watcher and scholar of the Catholic Church says the open attack on Pope Francis — coming at an especially vulnerable time for him — appears to be mostly about personal animus and the Pope’s move to make the Church more accepting of gays. The Pope’s defenders have already started to dispute details in Vigano’s letter. Francis accepted McCarrick’s resignation in July and ordered him to a “life of prayer and penance” following accusations that the cardinal sexually abused adult seminarians and minors. McCarrick, the powerful head of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., stepped down after an investigation by the Church concluded that claims he sexually abused a teenage altar boy were credible. Vigano’s letter contains serious allegations about Francis’ response to reports of McCarrick’s abuse. But it also includes a screed against homosexuals and it can be seen as a homophobic attack against Francis, who has worked to open up the church to people who are gay or lesbian, among others who are turned away in accordance with the church’s teaching. Massimo Faggioli, a theology and religious studies professor at Villanova University, says the charges in Vigano’s letter are motivated by a personal vendetta on behalf of conservative American Catholics. “People are especially upset with the fact that Francis is opening the church on sexuality and homosexuality,” Faggioli tells TIME. “So, here you have a very cynical alliance with a cynical agenda that has nothing to do with the sex abuse crisis.” Story continues Here’s a breakdown of the accusations against Francis and why they are coming up now. Who is calling for Pope Francis’ resignation and why? Vigano in his letter has called on Francis and all others who he says remained silent about McCarrick’s abuse of seminarians to resign. Vigano writes that he informed Francis of McCarrick’s inappropriate behavior in 2013. Francis, he alleges, “continued to cover for” McCarrick. Conservative bishops in America have voiced their support for Vigano since the letter was published on Sunday. Cardinal Raymond Burke, the former archbishop of St. Louis, said the “appropriate sanctions must be applied,” if Vigano’s allegations are substantiated, the New York Times reports. Bishops David Konderla and Joseph Strickland also joined the surge of conservatives standing up with Vigano. “As your shepherd, I find them credible,” Strickland wrote in a statement about the allegations brought up by Vigano, according to the Times. Faggioli says the letter comes from a place of “personal animus.” “These accusations raise questions we need answers to at some point,” he says. “Any analysis of these allegations reveal that they are full of gaps and holes. The document is a start for those who want to raise questions, but it contains no answers.” Vigano’s accusation against the Pope comes one month after McCarrick’s resignation and weeks after a damning report from a Pennsylvania grand jury that found at least 300 priests abused more than 1,000 victims — and that church leaders worked to cover up the wrongdoing. What has Pope Fracis said about the accusations? Pope Francis declined to confirm or deny the claims by Vigano on Sunday during a press conference. He said the text, which he had read, “speaks for itself,” and that he trusted reporters to judge the claims in it for themselves. “It’s an act of trust,” he said. “I won’t say a word about it.” Who Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the man accusing the Pope? Vigano, 77, was the Apostolic Nuncio, or papal diplomat, to the U.S. from 2011 to 2016. His tenure included a dustup with Pope Francis in 2015 over a meeting he arranged with Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses for gay couples. After word leaked that Francis was to meet with Davis, the Vatican issued a swift statement to distance itself from her. Francis then met with a former student of his, who is openly gay, before he met with Davis. He had Vigano replaced as nuncio in 2016. Vigano has also been accused of covering up misconduct claims, the Associated Press reports. He has denied allegations that he attempted to stop an investigation into John Nienstedt, the former archbishop of St. Paul-Minneapolis, who was accused of sexual misconduct with adult seminarians. Vigano was also implicated in the 2012 “Vatileaks” scandal, in which some of his letters were made public. In those letters, Vigano begged to not be transferred to Washington, claiming he the assignment was punishment for exposing corruption in the Vatican, according to the AP. According to Faggioli, Vigano spent his time in the U.S. cultivating relationships with conservative American Catholics who form part of the faction that opposes Francis. Why have Vigano and others criticized Pope Francis? Vigano and other conservative Catholics are against Pope Francis’s efforts to welcome back into the church Catholics who are gay or lesbian, or divorced and remarried, the Times reports. Conservative American Catholics have also criticized Francis for his progressive politics, including his desire to protect refugees and immigrants and stop climate change. Vigano’s letter aimed to connect the issue of sex abuse in the church with the acceptance of homosexuality by Francis, even though he has not made any definitive changes on the church’s teachings on homosexuality. “The seriousness of homosexual behavior must be denounced,” Vigano wrote, citing work by an academic to support his claim that “homosexual networks” are the reason for rampant abuse in the church. The criticisms against Francis mark a rare moment of Catholic leaders coming out openly against the pope. “This is something we’ve never seen. Usually accusations are made anonymously,” Faggioli says. “They don’t reach the global mainstream media. If you start condemning people, the legal ground is unclear. The problem is a few of the people accused might think that the safest thing is to start talking about other people and that is when the whole house of cards is going to collapse.”<doc-sep>Pope Francis said Sunday that he had read the letter from a former Vatican official that calls for the Roman Catholic Church leader’s resignation. However, the Pope told reporters he would not say a single word about the letter’s contents. He said the letter “speaks for itself.” Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano wrote the 11-page document and had released it to Catholic media groups earlier in the day Sunday. In the letter, Vigano accuses Pope Francis of having known for years about sex abuse reports involving former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of the United States. Last month, the Pope accepted McCarrick’s resignation following the release of evidence that he had abused a child. It was the first resignation of a Cardinal in connection with sex abuse claims. Vigano wrote that the Pope “must acknowledge his mistakes.” He also said Francis should resign to honor the Church’s policy of rejecting abuse or hiding of abuse. Vigano served as the Vatican Ambassador to the United States from 2006 to 2011. He said he told Francis about the accusations against McCarrick in June 2013. Vigano wrote that the current Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, also received information from the Vatican about McCarrick. Wuerl’s spokesman denied the accusation. The letter was released during the Pope’s two-day trip to Ireland. Pope Francis opened a service Sunday in Dublin by asking for forgiveness for the “scandal and betrayal” felt by victims of sex abuse by Catholic clergy. Organizers had been expecting a crowd of 500,000 people, but only about 200,000 gathered. Among them were protesters of the Catholic Church. Demonstrator Maggie Lawler expressed dissatisfaction with the Pope’s message. “Apologies don't really go far enough. There needs to be accountability. People need to answer questions, they need to stand up, be responsible for their actions.” Protester Elaine Murphy agreed with Lawler. She described Francis’ apology Sunday as “empty.” The Pope also met privately in Ireland with a group of abuse victims. I’m Caty Weaver. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story acknowledge - v. to say that you accept or do not deny the truth or existence of (something) scandal - n. an occurrence in which people are shocked and upset because of behavior that is morally or legally wrong<doc-sep>
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Sunday he would not respond to a former top Vatican official who accused him of having known for years of allegations of sex abuse by a prominent U.S. cardinal, calling on the pontiff to resign in an unprecedented broadside against the pope by a Church insider. Francis, speaking to reporters on the plane returning from a trip to Dublin, said dismissively that a statement containing the accusations “speaks for itself”. In a detailed 11-page bombshell statement given to conservative Roman Catholic media outlets during the pope’s visit to Ireland, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano accused a long list of current and past Vatican and U.S. Church officials of covering up the case of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who resigned last month in disgrace. In remarkably blunt language, Vigano said alleged cover-ups in the Church were making it look like “a conspiracy of silence not so dissimilar from the one that prevails in the mafia”. “Pope Francis has repeatedly asked for total transparency in the Church,” wrote Vigano, who has criticized the pope before. “In this extremely dramatic moment for the universal Church, his extremely dramatic moment for the universal Church, he must acknowledge his mistakes and, in keeping with the proclaimed principle of zero tolerance, Pope Francis must be the first to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarrick’s abuses and resign along with all of them,” Vigano said. The statement, which contained no supporting documents, was the latest blow to the credibility of the U.S. Church. Nearly two weeks ago, a grand jury in Pennsylvania released the findings of the largest-ever investigation of sex abuse in the U.S. Catholic Church, finding that 301 priests in the state had sexually abused minors over the past 70 years. On the plane returning from a trip to Dublin, reporters asked the pope about the statement, which was published by the National Catholic Register and several other conservative media outlets in the United States and Italy. “I will say sincerely that I must say this, to you (the reporter) and all of you who are interested: Read the document carefully and judge it for yourselves,” he said. “I will not say one word on this. I think the statement speaks for itself and you have sufficient journalistic ability to reach your own conclusions,” he said. NO REPLY In his statement, Vigano said he had told Francis in June 2013, just after he was elected pope by his fellow cardinals, about the accusations against McCarrick. Vigano, the papal envoy in Washington from 2011 to 2016, also said he had informed top Vatican officials as early as 2006 that McCarrick was suspected of abusing adult seminarians while he was a bishop in two New Jersey dioceses between 1981 and 2001. He said he never received a response to his 2006 memo. Slideshow ( 3 images ) He also accused McCarrick’s successor as archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, of having been aware of the abuse allegations. Wuerl has said he did not know of them. In a statement, the Washington Catholic Archdiocese said: “In spite of what Archbishop Vigano’s memo indicates, Cardinal Wuerl did not receive any documentation or information during his time in Washington regarding any actions taken against Archbishop McCarrick.” McCarrick in July became the first cardinal in living memory to resign his position in the Church leadership after a review concluded that claims he had sexually abused a 16-year-old boy were credible. Slideshow ( 3 images ) He was one of the highest-ranking Church officials accused of sex abuse in a scandal that has rocked the 1.2 billion-member faith since reports of priests abusing children and bishops covering up for them were reported by the Boston Globe in 2002. Since then, patterns of widespread abuse of children have been reported across the United States and Europe, in Chile and Australia, undercutting the Church’s moral authority and taking a toll on its membership and coffers McCarrick, 88, has said he had no recollection of alleged abuse of the minor, but has not commented on widespread media reports that he would force adult men studying for the priesthood to sleep with him at a beach house in New Jersey. Vigano’s statement railed against “homosexual networks present in the Church” - the word “homosexual” appears 18 times, while the word “child” appears only twice, in both cases in the titles of Church documents Vigano cites.