CATHOLIC CHURCH
Right-wing critics attack pope over ‘abuse’
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican envoy, accused the pope of ignoring sexual abuse allegations
Allegations that Pope Francis Pope Francis covered for a senior US cardinal accused of abuse have raised questions about a possible plot against the pontiff by figures within the Catholic Church’s ultra-conservative hierarchy. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican envoy to the US, dropped an 11-page bombshell at the weekend accusing the pope of ignoring sexual abuse allegations against prominent US cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The pope "knew from at least June 23, 2013, that McCarrick was a serial predator", Vigano alleged. "He knew that he was a corrupt man, he covered for him to the bitter end." The timing of the letter’s release — in the middle of the pope’s landmark trip to Ireland — immediately raised speculation about a campaign against the Argentine pontiff. Some ultra-conservative Catholics regard the pope as a dangerous progressive who is more interested in social issues than traditional church matters. But so far, the pontiff has remained silent, refusing to addr...
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