August 24, 2005

Church in a state

ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Herald

The downfall of Santiago del Estero Bishop Juan Carlos Maccarone should be seen firmly within the context of a problem affecting the Church around the world. Some attempts to substitute the religious for the political standpoint almost turn out making the erring bishop seem a martyr but nothing can justify the basic inconsistency between his calling with its vows of celibacy and his conduct. Pleading a sinister political manoeuvre by the Carlos Juárez clan in Santiago del Estero to entrap the progressive bishop; making the right to privacy the issue; arguing that the virtues of his pastoral work over the past six years in that backward province outweigh his vices; saying "To err is human"; pointing to double standards if the judge Norberto Oyarbide retains his bench to this day after a very similar video of sex with a youth — none of this alters the basic fact that Maccarone has lost all his credibility to continue as a bishop (as he himself recognized).

Posted by kshaw at August 24, 2005 08:30 AM