Reforma: Manuel J. Jáuregui*
Translated by Emma Brooks
Yesterday Pope Francis was in Michoacán, the land of Marcial Maciel, global example of what a priest should not be.
Father Alejandro Solalinde [director of migrant shelter, Brothers on the Way, in Oaxaca and winner of the 2012 National Human Rights Commission Award], who we do not know personally, but who we value and respect as a great person for his unbiased and constant defense of the helpless, said that the high Mexican Curia (that is, Norberto Rivera [Archbishop of Mexico City]) and the Government (in conspiracy, always in conspiracy, since Don Norbert loves to play ball with the elites in power) did not allow anyone with any grievances anywhere near the pope.
Certainly Francis I requested that we ask indigenous Mexicans for forgiveness [during visit Monday in Chiapas]. He never mentioned, however, that the church owes a huge “mea culpa” to the human beings who, in addition to being sodomized by different priests, whose names are known to the Mexican Curia, were furthermore neglected, ignored, insulted, reviled and had their human dignity violated when the Church - to their advantage, and in a premeditated and treacherous manner - covered up the crimes against humanity committed against those helpless victims. And those same victims only asked - and continue to ask - that the Church recognize its faults.
The cover up, the shameful silence, is further enforced by the Pope’s silence, who - as we said - could have taken advantage of his stay in Michoacán to at least, in the name of the Church (and his predecessors), apologize to the victims and promise that something like this will never happen again!
The very devout will now be able to challenge us, and ask how we can possibly criticize the Pope. However, with all due respect to their beliefs - however extreme they may be - I have to say what I have to say, because the work of a good journalist is to talk about delicate issues that others want to silence.
How can we possibly improve our society without self-criticism?
Karol Wojtyla [Pope John Paul II], a friend of Maciel, never listened to the victims whose lives Maciel ruined, nor did he raise his hand to do them justice. Now, while Jorge Mario Bergoglio tours Mexico, a 30-year correspondence is surfacing. It reveals that Wojtyla carried on a relationship of… intimate friendship… with a woman, and that the behavior between them was very affectionate. We aren’t confirming anything that isn't in the letters, and we do not know nor do we intend to define what kind of relationship they had: for what we are talking about today, it makes no difference.
What we are getting at is that Popes are men, and like men they are born failures, with flaws, like everyone else. If this applies to Popes, it applies even more so to simple Bishops, Cardinals or priests, diocesans or of other holy orders.
Wojtyla made a colossal error, which stained his legacy, by allowing a monster like Maciel to never be called to account for his misdeeds. If that's the case, with the position that Bergoglio has taken by avoiding the issue of pederasty and pederasts during his visit to Mexico (and others, such as the issue of the Ayotzinapa victims), he is racking up mistakes like those committed by his predecessor, Karol Wojtyla, who, as you know, has even been made into a saint.
We would be thrilled if today, the day he says goodbye to Mexico, already on the steps to his plane and free from the shepherding control of the high Curia and the Government, Pope Francis broke the silence. Nothing would give us more pleasure friends, than to say tomorrow: What a father, we were wrong, the Pope acknowledged, apologized to the victims and discredited the pederasts! That is what yours truly, and certainly many more Mexicans, would want.
However, sadly, something tells us that will not happen. The world will keep turning, leaving immense injustices in its wake that, when not corrected, generate more injustice.
How sad!
Reforma only allows subscribers to access its articles online.
*Manuel J. Jáuregui is regular columnist for Reforma
Translated by Emma Brooks
Yesterday Pope Francis was in Michoacán, the land of Marcial Maciel, global example of what a priest should not be.
MV Note: Marcial Maciel Degollado was a Mexican-born Catholic priest who founded the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi movement. He was respected throughout his career as "the greatest fundraiser of the modern Roman Catholic church" and as a prolific recruiter of new seminarians. Late in his life he was revealed to have sexually abused boys and young men and maintained relationships with at least two women, fathering as many as six children, two of whom he allegedly abused sexually as well.The time and place, in our opinion, were perfect for the Pope to clearly and decisively address the issue of victims of pederasty, of Marcial Maciel and many other unpunished priests, in Mexico. However, Pope Francis said nothing. He kept quiet and completely ignored the issue ... and today he is leaving.
In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI removed Maciel from active ministry based on the results of an investigation started under John Paul II concerning sexual impropriety. Maciel was ordered "to conduct a reserved life of prayer and penance, renouncing every public ministry." On March 25, 2010, a communiqué on the Legion's website acknowledged as factual the "reprehensible actions" by Maciel, including sexual abuse of minor seminarians. Wikipedia
Father Alejandro Solalinde [director of migrant shelter, Brothers on the Way, in Oaxaca and winner of the 2012 National Human Rights Commission Award], who we do not know personally, but who we value and respect as a great person for his unbiased and constant defense of the helpless, said that the high Mexican Curia (that is, Norberto Rivera [Archbishop of Mexico City]) and the Government (in conspiracy, always in conspiracy, since Don Norbert loves to play ball with the elites in power) did not allow anyone with any grievances anywhere near the pope.
Certainly Francis I requested that we ask indigenous Mexicans for forgiveness [during visit Monday in Chiapas]. He never mentioned, however, that the church owes a huge “mea culpa” to the human beings who, in addition to being sodomized by different priests, whose names are known to the Mexican Curia, were furthermore neglected, ignored, insulted, reviled and had their human dignity violated when the Church - to their advantage, and in a premeditated and treacherous manner - covered up the crimes against humanity committed against those helpless victims. And those same victims only asked - and continue to ask - that the Church recognize its faults.
The cover up, the shameful silence, is further enforced by the Pope’s silence, who - as we said - could have taken advantage of his stay in Michoacán to at least, in the name of the Church (and his predecessors), apologize to the victims and promise that something like this will never happen again!
The very devout will now be able to challenge us, and ask how we can possibly criticize the Pope. However, with all due respect to their beliefs - however extreme they may be - I have to say what I have to say, because the work of a good journalist is to talk about delicate issues that others want to silence.
How can we possibly improve our society without self-criticism?
Karol Wojtyla [Pope John Paul II], a friend of Maciel, never listened to the victims whose lives Maciel ruined, nor did he raise his hand to do them justice. Now, while Jorge Mario Bergoglio tours Mexico, a 30-year correspondence is surfacing. It reveals that Wojtyla carried on a relationship of… intimate friendship… with a woman, and that the behavior between them was very affectionate. We aren’t confirming anything that isn't in the letters, and we do not know nor do we intend to define what kind of relationship they had: for what we are talking about today, it makes no difference.
What we are getting at is that Popes are men, and like men they are born failures, with flaws, like everyone else. If this applies to Popes, it applies even more so to simple Bishops, Cardinals or priests, diocesans or of other holy orders.
Wojtyla made a colossal error, which stained his legacy, by allowing a monster like Maciel to never be called to account for his misdeeds. If that's the case, with the position that Bergoglio has taken by avoiding the issue of pederasty and pederasts during his visit to Mexico (and others, such as the issue of the Ayotzinapa victims), he is racking up mistakes like those committed by his predecessor, Karol Wojtyla, who, as you know, has even been made into a saint.
We would be thrilled if today, the day he says goodbye to Mexico, already on the steps to his plane and free from the shepherding control of the high Curia and the Government, Pope Francis broke the silence. Nothing would give us more pleasure friends, than to say tomorrow: What a father, we were wrong, the Pope acknowledged, apologized to the victims and discredited the pederasts! That is what yours truly, and certainly many more Mexicans, would want.
However, sadly, something tells us that will not happen. The world will keep turning, leaving immense injustices in its wake that, when not corrected, generate more injustice.
How sad!
Reforma only allows subscribers to access its articles online.
*Manuel J. Jáuregui is regular columnist for Reforma