Can
somebody out there fill me in on why the Roman Catholic Church always gets a
free pass?
They don’t
think so, of course. To them, everybody is out to get them, liberals and
atheists (raise your hand, Marc) are spreading lies and filth, and the only
thing these alleged victims are looking for is…you got it.
And there
is a case to be made for Time
magazine making Francis Person
of the Year. He is, apparently, taking on the Curia—which makes him a
stronger man than I. He may be reforming the Vatican Bank, which needs
it. And yes, refusing to live in the palace and driving your old, beat-up car
is endearing.
But let’s
be very clear—theologically, he’s not budging. And if you’re standing on one
leg waiting for any movement on the ordination of women, priestly celibacy,
ordination of openly gay priests—well, you’d better have a great sense of
balance.
Because
it’s clear—it’s business as usual in the Vatican.
Think I’m
wrong? Consider the case
of Jozef Wesolowski,
the papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Ooops, that’s former
papal nuncio, since Wesolowski skipped town—err, was recalled by the
Vatican—shortly before the allegations of child molesting were aired on
Dominican television. Nor was he alone—his pal Alberto
Gil was also screwing around, and shot back to his native Poland when the
water got a little hot.
How can
this be, you are saying in horror. Aren’t these guys supposed to stay put, face
the charges? Isn’t the church supposed to be cooperating with the local
authorities?
Well,
that’s what I thought….
Nor was all
of this confined to the Dominican Republic, since Wesolowski was also spending
quite a bit of time here in Puerto Rico, investigating our archbishop
for allegedly injecting politics into the church (the archbishop favors
independence, and doesn’t care who knows it). So Wesolowski spent a good deal
of time in the next diocese over—Arecibo—where he reportedly slept with a group
of boys. Oh, and one local priest was suspended. Readers, take note. Arecibo
is—in some way or another—American soil. If Wesolowski did indeed engage in
criminal behavior in Arecibo, he’s subject to Puerto Rico and—by extension—US
law.
Or is he?
Because he is also part of the Vatican “diplomatic” corps. The Vatican, you
see, is a nation as well as a church, and so gets to have diplomats. And they
diplomatic immunity, which Wikipedia defines thus:
Diplomatic
immunity is a form of legal immunity
and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe
passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host
country's laws, although they can still be extradited.
Presumably
this means the Wesolowski can screw all the kids in Christendom and get away
with it. So for a time—in September of this year—there was a great to-do in the
media. And then what happened?
The church
is very wise, and moves on its own time. And if you had to bet between the
church and a glacier in some imagined race? Put your money on the glacier.
The church
is conducting an investigation. Now you can say “whew” and wipe the sweat off
your brow. But that also means—quite reasonably—that they cannot comment on the
affair. They did, however, get around to appointing a new papal nuncio
to—guess where? And he was sworn in or inaugurated or whatever-it-is last
month. Oh, and here’s what he the article
said:
Santo
Domingo - El arzobispo nigeriano Jude Thaddeus Okolo reconoció hoy, tras
recibir oficialmente la bienvenida como el nuevo embajador del Vaticano en
República Dominicana, que tendrá que hacer un "gran esfuerzo" para
enfrentar los "desafíos" que entraña su misión en esta nación.
(Santo
Domingo - The Nigerian archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo acknowledged today, after
receiving officially the welcome as new ambassador from the Vatican to the
Dominican Republic, that he will have to make a “great effort” to take on the
“challenges” which are attached to his mission in the nation.)
Guys? Hope
you were listening well, because guess what? That’s all you’re gonna get.
My
complaint isn’t with the Vatican, which is doing what every organization would
do. If the manager of a Walmart in Blowyournose, Idaho, kills stray dogs in the
parking lot, The New York Times
will write about it, and Bentonville will express its official horror, state
that an investigation is being conducted, state that their administrative
policy specifically forbids the poisoning of strays, and release a photo of Sam
with his hunting dog, Ol’ Roy.
What bugs
me is the lack of follow-up. Google “pederastia Arecibo” and you’ll find the
most recent news to be from last month, and oh…it’ll be a great chance to bone
up on your Polish.
But
wait—the story gets more interesting. It now appears that Gil—who had been
hiding not very originally in his parents’ house—will be tried in Poland for
abusing seven minors. Oh, and the same report
has this to say:
Entretanto,
denunció que el exrepresentante del Vaticano fue sacado del país con
documentación ilegal y habló de una presunta red internacional de pederastia
detrás de los acusados Wesolowski y Gil, la cual lleva niños desde la República
Dominicana a Polonia.
(Among
other things, he [ex-priest Alberto Athié] decried that the ex-representative
of the Vatican was removed from the country with illegal documentation and
spoke of a presumed international web of pedastry behind the accused Wesolowski
and Gil, who took children from the Dominican Republic to Poland.)
And all of
this happened on Francis’s watch, since a Dominican prelate had tipped the pope
off in August of this year. So Time?
Francis is not the Person of the Year….
…just the
Image of the Year.
