Pope’s Plan Points to Preserving US Supreme Court Majority

By Jerry Slevin
Christian Catholicism
October 8, 2013

http://christiancatholicism.com/popes-plan-points-to-preserving-us-supreme-court-majority/

[FRANCIS CONVENES EXTRAORDINARY SYNOD ON THE FAMILY FOR OCTOBER 2014 - Vatican Information Service]

Pope Francis today announced his biggest “change order” to date. A year from now, he will convene a Synod of Bishops to start on October 5, 2014, a month before the key US Senate elections.

The agenda will be “The Pastoral Challenges of the Family”. The moderator will be Italian Archbishop Baldiserri. He was most recently Secretary of the committees of bishops and of cardinals. For decades before, he was a Vatican diplomat with no significant pastoral experience. No lay Catholics and certainly no women will apparently participate actively, although they may be able to send e-mails, etc.

So after an over-hyped and under-performing Council of 8 Cardinals meeting that failed even to address meaningfully any accountability of bishops for protecting child predator priests, over 300 childless senior celibate males will meet to review the rules on making love, getting married and having children. Is this a bad dream?

Of course, all of the men attending were selected on their pledge to oppose contraception and gay marriage. Is there any doubt how they will likely come out a few weeks before US elections that predictably could determine the composition of the US Supreme Court for many years to come? Francis has now cutely planned to delay for 18 months showing his real hand on change–no change on the issues that really matter to most Catholics. But controlling the US Supreme Court matters to hierarchs worried stiff about bankruptcy and imprisonment

Francis had a choice. He could address now after six months effective changes that would seriously curtail child abuse by making bishops accountable, such as removing criminal Bishop Finn. Or he could try to fight on with the disasterous policies of his two predecessors who never saw a bishop cover-up they didn’t try to hide. He has chosen to fight on, as he did in Argentina in the case of Fr.Grassi, a convicted child abuser.

The biggest obstacle for Francis is US President Obama, leader of the most powerful nation, a constitutional lawyer and a devoted parent. He favors broad access to contraception for responsible couples and civil rights for gay couples. Ex-pope Benedict failed last year to defeat President Obama, but the ex-pope had no special edge over the Latino vote. Francis has that edge obviously.

Contraception lowers the Catholic birth rate, which reduces hierarchical political power and economic wealth. Peter’s Pence adds up, with over a billion Catholics worldwide.

In several critical states, the US Senate elections will likely turn on a small percentage of the eligible voters. If Francis can deliver a small increase in turnout of conservative Catholics, especially traditional Latinos, that could give right-wing candidates enough to secure a bare majority in the US Senate. That would be enough to control the confirmation votes needed to install new Justices on the US Supreme Court.

If Francis succeeds in this plan, he can probably expect for many years a conservative US Supreme Court majority that will continue to protect US bishops from financial liability and potentially even criminal prosecution. Francis obviously does not want to risk waiting to face Hillary Clinton’s potential appointments after 2016.

An unexpected snag has just arisen for the pope’s political plans. Not yet quite of Joan of Arc’s or Catherine of Siena’s stature, but nevertheless a brave and determined former church official from St. Paul, Minnesota, Jennifer Haselberger, stands in the pope’s way. Her challenge to her bishop, an anti-gay marriage crusader, has coincidentally and suddenly even brought the priest brother of President Obama’s Chief of Staff center stage. After mainly avoiding the Catholic priest child abuse scandal until now, President Obama will likely have to take a public position on it very soon, well before Francis’ Synod is held.

The former St. Paul Archdiocesan Chancellor for Canonical Matters, Jennifer Haselberger, a well educated and respected canon lawyer, is publicly taking on her bishop and the papal inquisition that masquerades as child protectors. Childless celibate men too often fail to understand or value children, as is sadly but increasingly becoming too clear. They appear, though, to understand well and to fear greatly Federal prosecutors. They must also fear Jennifer. I would if I were in their legal shoes.

Jennifer’s amazing and disturbing story, with documentary support, including proposed correspondence with the Vatican’s purported child protection department under Cardinal Levada, is being reported on extensively and continuously by journalists at the respected Minnesota Public Radio organization. Other journalists will soon catch up as well.

[Essential details]

This pathetic story reveals clearly that the Vatican’s “Zero Tolerance” policy that Francis still touts is in practice more like a “Zero Competence” or “Zero Morality” policy. Will Pope Francis please step up and remove this obscenity. He must stop kissing a few babies and begin protecting millions of children transparently. A Synod a year from now of 300 men who contributed to creating the current mess is too late and in all likelihood will be too little. Nice try though.

The aforementioned article indicates a very unflattering picture of the priest brother of President Obama’s Chief of Staff. Hopefully, his brother is giving the President better advice than he gave his bishop.

Among many other important issues, the article raises for me as a lawyer serious questions of potential violations of several Federal and state laws relating to child protection and to the suppression of evidence. These matters must now be investigated fully both by Federal and state prosecutors, without any favoritism or political interference. I expect the President and his Chief of Staff will fully agree with this. I hope so. There are already enough scandals and crises for him to deal with already.

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