#ViganoTestimony 3.0!  Powerful response to accusations, points to crisis of homosexuality #sodoclericalism

Huge.

Archbp. Carlo Maria Viganò has issued a third Testimony.  It is a neutron bomb.

First, at CNA we read that the present “Sostituo”, the 2nd in command in the Secretariat of State for matter within the Church, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra “might have been dismissed from a seminary where he studied because he was thought by seminary administrators to have a homosexual orientation.”  Parra was mentioned in Archbp. Carlo Maria Viganò’s 25 August “Testimony”.  With that in mind, read on!

Remember that Archbp. Viganò released his Testimony on 25 August, read in my PODCAzT HERE.   Many prelates found his accusations credible.

He issued another piece, stronger in September  HERE  In that second piece Viganò called out Card. Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

Ouellet responded in a bitterly sharp letter on 7 October.  HERE  While harshly criticizing Viganò, Ouellet confirmed many of the things Viganò had claimed.

Now – on the Feast of the North American Martyrs – Archbp. Viganò has issued a THIRD Testimony.  It comprehensive.  Marco Tosatti has it, in Italian, HERE.  The indomitable Ed Pentin posted it in English – bless him- at the National Catholic Register.  Bless him, in particular, because I found it just before launching into my own translation.  Thanks.

After an introduction, Archbp. Viganò lists in bullet points the key events.

Here is the first part of Testimony 3.0.  It starts right in after stating the feast day, without being addressed to any one person or persons.  Hence, it is addressed to everyone, including, dear reader, you.  YOU are part of this narrative, too.  My emphases:

To bear witness to corruption in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church was a painful decision for me, and remains so. But I am an old man, one who knows he must soon give an accounting to the Judge for his actions and omissions, one who fears Him who can cast body and soul into hell. A Judge who, even in his infinite mercy, will render to every person salvation or damnation according to what he has deserved. Anticipating the dreadful question from that Judge — “How could you, who had knowledge of the truth, keep silent in the midst of falsehood and depravity?” — what answer could I give?

I testified fully aware that my testimony would bring alarm and dismay to many eminent persons: churchmen, fellow bishops, colleagues with whom I had worked and prayed. I knew many would feel wounded and betrayed. I expected that some would in their turn assail me and my motives. Most painful of all, I knew that many of the innocent faithful would be confused and disconcerted by the spectacle of a bishop’s charging colleagues and superiors with malfeasance, sexual sin, and grave neglect of duty. Yet I believe that my continued silence would put many souls at risk, and would certainly damn my own. Having reported multiple times to my superiors, and even to the pope, the aberrant behavior of Theodore McCarrick, I could have publicly denounced the truths of which I was aware earlier. If I have some responsibility in this delay, I repent for that. This delay was due to the gravity of the decision I was going to take, and to the long travail of my conscience.

I have been accused of creating confusion and division in the Church through my testimony. To those who believe such confusion and division were negligible prior to August 2018, perhaps such a claim is plausible. Most impartial observers, however, will have been aware of a longstanding excess of both, as is inevitable when the successor of Peter is negligent in exercising his principal mission, which is to confirm the brothers in the faith and in sound moral doctrine. When he then exacerbates the crisis by contradictory or perplexing statements about these doctrines, the confusion is worsened.

Therefore I spoke. For it is the conspiracy of silence that has wrought and continues to wreak great harm in the Church — harm to so many innocent souls, to young priestly vocations, to the faithful at large. With regard to my decision, which I have taken in conscience before God, I willingly accept every fraternal correction, advice, recommendation, and invitation to progress in my life of faith and love for Christ, the Church and the pope.

Let me restate the key points of my testimony.

Then for a couple of pages he goes chronologically through everything he has done, with whom he spoke, corresponded, etc.   After that he takes up something that Card. Ouellet wrote and finishes with a peroration.

[…]

In brief, Cardinal Ouellet concedes the important claims that I did and do make, and disputes claims I don’t make and never made.

There is one point on which I must absolutely refute what Cardinal Ouellet wrote. The Cardinal states that the Holy See was only aware of “rumors,” which were not enough to justify disciplinary measures against McCarrick. I affirm to the contrary that the Holy See was aware of a variety of concrete facts, and is in possession of documentary proof, and that the responsible persons nevertheless chose not to intervene or were prevented from doing so. Compensation by the Archdiocese of Newark and the Diocese of Metuchen to the victims of McCarrick’s sexual abuse, the letters of Fr. Ramsey, of the nuncios Montalvo in 2000 and Sambi in 2006, of Dr. Sipe in 2008, my two notes to the superiors of the Secretariat of State who described in detail the concrete allegations against McCarrick; are all these just rumors? They are official correspondence, not gossip from the sacristy. The crimes reported were very serious, including those of attempting to give sacramental absolution to accomplices in perverse acts, with subsequent sacrilegious celebration of Mass. These documents specify the identity of the perpetrators and their protectors, and the chronological sequence of the facts. They are kept in the appropriate archives; no extraordinary investigation is needed to recover them.

In the public remonstrances directed at me I have noted two omissions, two dramatic silences. The first silence regards the plight of the victims. The second regards the underlying reason why there are so many victims, namely, the corrupting influence of homosexuality in the priesthood and in the hierarchy. As to the first, it is dismaying that, amid all the scandals and indignation, so little thought should be given to those damaged by the sexual predations of those commissioned as ministers of the gospel. This is not a matter of settling scores or sulking over the vicissitudes of ecclesiastical careers. It is not a matter of politics. It is not a matter of how church historians may evaluate this or that papacy. This is about souls. Many souls have been and are even now imperiled of their eternal salvation.

As to the second silence, this very grave crisis cannot be properly addressed and resolved unless and until we call things by their true names. This is a crisis due to the scourge of homosexuality, in its agents, in its motives, in its resistance to reform. It is no exaggeration to say that homosexuality has become a plague in the clergy, and it can only be eradicated with spiritual weapons. It is an enormous hypocrisy to condemn the abuse, claim to weep for the victims, and yet refuse to denounce the root cause of so much sexual abuse: homosexuality. It is hypocrisy to refuse to acknowledge that this scourge is due to a serious crisis in the spiritual life of the clergy and to fail to take the steps necessary to remedy it.

Unquestionably there exist philandering clergy, and unquestionably they too damage their own souls, the souls of those whom they corrupt, and the Church at large. But these violations of priestly celibacy are usually confined to the individuals immediately involved. Philandering clergy usually do not recruit other philanderers, nor work to promote them, nor cover-up their misdeeds — whereas the evidence for homosexual collusion, with its deep roots that are so difficult to eradicate, is overwhelming.

It is well established that homosexual predators exploit clerical privilege to their advantage. But to claim the crisis itself to be clericalism is pure sophistry. It is to pretend that a means, an instrument, is in fact the main motive.

Denouncing homosexual corruption and the moral cowardice that allows it to flourish does not meet with congratulation in our times, not even in the highest spheres of the Church. I am not surprised that in calling attention to these plagues I am charged with disloyalty to the Holy Father and with fomenting an open and scandalous rebellion.
Yet rebellion would entail urging others to topple the papacy. I am urging no such thing. I pray every day for Pope Francis — more than I have ever done for the other popes. I am asking, indeed earnestly begging, the Holy Father to face up to the commitments he himself made in assuming his office as successor of Peter. He took upon himself the mission of confirming his brothers and guiding all souls in following Christ, in the spiritual combat, along the way of the cross. Let him admit his errors, repent, show his willingness to follow the mandate given to Peter and, once converted let him confirm his brothers (Lk 22:32).

In closing, I wish to repeat my appeal to my brother bishops and priests who know that my statements are true and who can so testify, or who have access to documents that can put the matter beyond doubt. You too are faced with a choice. You can choose to withdraw from the battle, to prop up the conspiracy of silence and avert your eyes from the spreading of corruption. You can make excuses, compromises and justification that put off the day of reckoning. You can console yourselves with the falsehood and the delusion that it will be easier to tell the truth tomorrow, and then the following day, and so on.

On the other hand, you can choose to speak. You can trust Him who told us, “the truth will set you free.” I do not say it will be easy to decide between silence and speaking. I urge you to consider which choice– on your deathbed, and then before the just Judge — you will not regret having made.

+ Carlo Maria Viganò

etc.

Archbp. Viganò, offered a credible testimony before.  He has, once again offered a credible testimony.   A credible testimony calls for a credible response, a serious response that corresponds to the weight of the matter.  In this case, the matter is as grave as anything we have heard about in the Church.  The Present Crisis is not just a blip.

Again, Viganò has uncovered the root of The Present Crisis: homosexuals and homosexual predation – with the sodoclericalism that results.

I think we have to make a distinction between clericalism and sodoclericalism.

Do make regular prayer for Archbp. Viganò part of your daily routine.  When he issued his first piece, he went into hiding.  Some might think that that is a little melodramatic.  However, I know for a fact that homosexuals and mafiosi and all manner of dangerous actors run together, for their interests overlap.  In Vatican circles, people can turn up dead.  HERE  It also happens far out of Vatican circles but within the Church when it comes to unmasking the powerful and their homosexual depredations.  HERE  When it came to McCarrick, one person was afraid of winding up at the bottom of the Potomac. HERE  Archbp. Viganò has good reason to be afraid.  Homosexual crime is among the most brutal that law enforcement and medical responders see.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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28 Comments

  1. Amerikaner says:

    And sadly we will see more of the same on this… instead of a response to his actual claims, there will be further character assassination and shifting of topic.

  2. Joy65 says:

    WOW praying for all of them. Because no matter who is at fault, who is bringing this all out into the open, who is responsible for covering up things done in the Church—-WE WILL ALL have to answer before God for our actions. I PRAY for all of them and I PRAY FOR OUR CHURCH!

    What is done in the dark will be seen in the light.

  3. PetersBarque says:

    Those are the words of a Shepherd whose heart is attuned to the Thrice Holy God.

  4. TonyO says:

    Vigano, if his situation and testimony is to remain of importance, must now tread a very difficult highwire. First, he must not give in to the temptation to defend himself against every slander, slur, or rejection of his testimony. Like Mary, he must leave it to God to do the primary defense.

    At the same time, he does have an ongoing role to respond carefully and judiciously, one might say with surgical exactitude, to attacks from credible sources like Cd. Oullet, who are in a position to hide or further muddle the evidence itself that can confirm or refute Vigano’s claims. He has the right and duty to not allow such distortion of the record to go unrebuked, if he has the evidence to show it is wrong.

    As powerful as this third sally is in its testimony for the truth, I fear he may be giving in a little to the temptation to justify himself before the court of public opinion, and not (as much) focusing on testifying to details (beyond what he had already asserted in 1 and 2) that would refute Oullet’s claims where they were wrong. Yes, he DOES refute Oullet’s claims, but he goes on to say much more besides. Perhaps he feels he needs to. But perhaps he needs to rely on God to produce the defense, now that his testimony is out there.

    I pray that everyone with the facts in their hands, every single bishop, cardinal, priest, or lay man who has ACTUAL FACTS in their hands about the truth of the matter, comes forward and tells everyone what they know. Let the chips fall where they may. If the Vatican gets sunk beneath a deluge of disgust at duplicity and corruption, so be it: the price must be paid in order to correct the problem. Let the truth come out.

    Fr. Z, thank you for doing your part to keep us informed of the truth so far as you can get it.

  5. Sawyer says:

    That’s a great photo of Vigano. He looks like he means business and he ain’t putting up with any nonsense.

  6. Man-o-words says:

    My friends, it seems to me that the solution to this lies, not in our bad bishops, but in our good ones. They need to be told, with certitude, by the laity, that their silence on this matter will not be tolerated. They KNOW. They cannot NOT know. Why are they silent . . .or more accurately, why are they not DEMANDING LOUDLY that this be exposed. No more sitting on the sidelines. Condemn your brother bishops who are complicit. State what you know, all of it, publicly. Reinforce what our pope seems to refuse to, with other clarity, that homosexual acts are intrinsically evil, that homosexuals are barred from the priesthood, that there is no marriage outside of “traditional” marriage. Let our good shepherds reveal themselves and let all others reveal themselves as well by their refusal to uphold church teaching.

    Send a copy of Viganos 3rd testimony to each cardinal and each bishop demanding they step up or be judged by their refusal to do so. Inundate their offices with the exact same requests and the same letters. Use any and all p uh blix forms to demand it so that there is no question that they know the time is now.

    Or, let this one small man, who has finally cracked the door open for reform, die for naught.

    He has done his part. Will we do ours?

  7. rosula says:

    God bless Archbp. Carlo Maria Viganò. He’s paving the way for the restoration of the Church under the leadership of Cardinal Robert Sarah.

  8. iamlucky13 says:

    I feel an apprehensive knot in my stomach as I read this, because it is evident that no easy dismissals of his claims are possible. He states his awareness of the potential eternal consequences of withholding important details about these matter, and can only be even more keenly aware of those consequences if he is lying. Furthermore, he makes very specific claims. In contrast, the closest we have to specific responses was Cardinal Oullette’s letter, which as noted implicitly confirmed many details.

    Every other response has basically amounted to, “clericalism is a scourge in the Church we must address, but anybody who actually accuses a cleric of clericalism is clearly a rotten liar.”

    This part worries me in particular:

    “They are kept in the appropriate archives; no extraordinary investigation is needed to recover them.

    Some of these details confirming knowledge of other prelates like the legal settlements in Newark and Metuchen, are even documented by secular authorities. That’s a start, but far from the full story.

    However, are not many of the other documents he says exist in custody of person’s implicated by Archbishop Vigano, or their associates, who have now been aware for several weeks that if these documents do exist, their discovery would be explosive?

    Even an innocent custodian of such evidence is faced with a similar difficult decision faced by many of our past bishops when they made the wrong choices about how to deal with sexual predators among their clergy: the absolute best case that can happen if Archbishop Vigano’s claims are substantiated, will be a scandal to countless people, Catholic and non-Catholic. The right decision is one even the innocent will not find easy to make if they are meek.

    Everyone involved needs prayers for wisdom, prudence, and fortitude.

  9. Therese says:

    The Age of Prophets is NOT dead: the sheer power of his witness takes my breath away.

  10. mibethda says:

    Dr. Robert Moynihan, editor in chief of the Inside the Vatican Magazine – a strong supporter of the Papacy, especially under John Paul II (under whose encouragement the magazine was founded) and Pope Benedict, has issued in his email newsletter today (Letter # 72) what appears to be almost a call to arms to the faithful clergy and laity in support of Archbishop Vigano. For those familiar with his usually careful and cautiously phrased editorials and newsletters, this letter is stunning and is likely to make waves. It is well worth reading.

  11. Benedict Joseph says:

    @mibethda: Thank you for pointing to the admonition from Robert Moynihan. I dropped my subscription five years ago when he refused to abandon a servile disposition in the face of things as they stood at that moment. It is heartening to see the faithful and conscientious laity claiming their wits in the face of this never-ending calamity.
    Unfortunately, even if Pope Francis were to whip this homosexual scandal into line, the scandalous theological corruption which flowers in this environment is not being addressed. The perennial Magisterium has been laid aside for a “new paradigm.”
    Pope Francis need answer to Almighty God, his confreres in the episcopate, and to all clergy, religious and laity for not merely turning the blind eye to the advanced state of decomposition in the post-conciliar Church, but for nurturing the cesspool of error.
    Denial of the state of things is no longer possible, nor is the responsibility of the papacy for bringing us to this moment.
    Enough theatrics and stage play.

  12. AnthonyJ says:

    Prayers for this brave bishop’s safety.

  13. AnthonyJ says:

    Prayers for this brave bishop’s safety.

  14. Kathleen10 says:

    The voice of the shepherd is easily recognized.

  15. TonyO says:

    Some of these documents are in the files of bishops, covered by canonical rules for confidentiality. Oullet claims that there are matters he cannot divulge. We need someone with high expertise and authority – maybe Cd. Burke – to explain fully which documents the bishops and cardinals have the authority to release now, which ones could be released if the Pope changed the rules under Canon Law for the crisis, and which one could be released no matter what. Then we need the GOOD bishops to release the documents that lead inevitably to documents that the bad bishops must have that are releasable, and DEMAND them. And so on, one thread leads to another. The pope must apply his power to changing rules that cover up what must be uncovered, and if he’s not up to the task then he needs to leave and let someone else take the reins who is up to it.

  16. Dan says:

    I predict a homily on the “great accuser” in the near future.

    Pray for Bishop Viganò. Pray for the Church.

    Hail Mary, full of grace…..

  17. Dan says:

    Pray for Pope Francis.

    Not to take on a conspiracy. But. Thinking of Paul Harvey “if I were the Devil”

    If I were the devil. I would know that I can’t takw the seat of peter but that I can obfuscate it but surrounding that person so so much corruption that he would be limited and afraid.

    If I were the pope I would send out what limited messages I could about a great accuser at work in the Church knowing that those trying to obfuscate things would assume I was falling in line. I would point to the ivory chalice that looks great to the world. The chalice that all the world thinks is welcoming and tolerant and all can come to and we will ignore your sin But at the same time is rotting from within. Has a cancer. Is surrounded by demons. Maybe we are witnessing a pope crying for help through the cracks in the wall.
    We have already seen one good pope fall victim to the wolves. Maybe we are seeing the same thing again.
    Maybe I am just a conspiracy theorist

  18. maternalView says:

    This was an excellent letter.

    Pray for him.

  19. PostCatholic says:

    I’ve always wondered about that carnival game where the impossible talk is to catch a greased pig, how do they grease the pigs in the first place? Now we know. Fascinating to watch.

  20. HvonBlumenthal says:

    Abp Vigano makes an important point about why it is specifically a problem of homosexuality. Heterosexual “0hilanderers” do not organise to recruit other philanderers or create networks to cover each other up. At least, not generally.

    Why not? Is it because heterosexual priests are not emotionally or sexually attached to each other?

  21. Bellarmino Vianney says:

    “However, I know for a fact that homosexuals and mafiosi and all manner of dangerous actors run together, for their interests overlap.”

    This is likely also the case in the U.S.

    In the area where I currently reside, which is heavily Leftist, there appears to be a very large number of plain-clothed, pro-“LGBTQSJ”, secret police. It sounds crazy, but just use your common sense – Obama et. al. probably vastly increased the number of plain-clothed intelligence gatherers, and those persons are basically secret police.

    There was an article at Daily Caller a few months back which spoke about the corruption within the FBI and how employees of the FBI wanted to blow the whistle on the corruption.

    But they are too scared to blow the whistle because apparently the whistleblower would then be given mob-like treatment – harassment, intimidation, and they would be made unemployable.

    Folks don’t realize how dire the situation is in America at the present time after 8 years of Obama and 2+ years of the Deep State.

    These plain-clothed secret police are present in Churches and Adoration Chapels in my area. Several of them appear to be homosexually inclined, and at least 4 of them appear to be “transgender” females (if that is the correct term – 4 appear to be XY males dressing as females).

    Fr. Z. appeared to have been commenting on the “homosexual-mafioso” connection in the Vatican. It should be noted that it is likely world-wide; these people protect and promote one another in every field/profession which they get into. Common sense indicates that they are indeed within the surveillance field, and thus one should be on the lookout for their gravely evil tactics.

    [The infamous queer NYC Stonewall Inn was started and run by the mafia.]

  22. cwillia1 says:

    Consider an all male hierarchical organization that requires perpetual sexual continence of its members and treats same sex attractions as seriously disordered. It is obvious that homosexuality poses a grave threat to the integrity of this organization – both homosexual acts and even the feelings that motivate such acts. The gravest danger is posed by sexual acts between members. Concubinage does not pose so great a risk because it does not strike directly at power relationships within the organization. This is an obvious, common sense observation, And Vigano makes the point forcefully.

  23. SanSan says:

    Silence = Death

  24. ps23 says:

    Vigano! Singlehandedly trying to stop this pope from paving the highway to hell.

  25. Q7 says:

    How refreshing in this whole sordid business to see the genuine charitable priority Archbishop Vigano has consistently given (at great personal peril) to all the ***souls*** involved here — from the marginalized victims and the scandalized faithful to the entirety of the clergy — all the way up to the pope! Archbp. Vigano has a guile-less straightforwardness with which he speaks that is neither foolish nor petty. A master of distinctions and boundaries, too!
    It’s a supreme pity that many will refuse to see his efforts as an attempt to ultimately get EVERYONE to Heaven — including those flirting with the dark side.

    Prayers indeed for Archbp. Vigano! — and his intentions!

  26. Atra Dicenda, Rubra Agenda says:

    Viganò uses the phrase “Salvation of Souls” more in this document than I have heard Francis use in his entire pontificate.

    Something to consider.

  27. dholwell says:

    Pray the Rosary that the Holy Spirit will guide Pope Francis. And pray to Saint Michael the Archangel to defend us in battle.

  28. LarryW2LJ says:

    I thought his use of the term “Conspiracy of Silence” was accurate and telling. I keep the good Archbishop in my prayers, every day.

    Thomas Paine wrote “These are the times that try men’s souls.” Might I add that “These are the times when future Saints come to the forefront and the light of day.”

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