UNITED STATES
Waiting for Godot to Leave
Kevin O’Brien
It pains me to point out that National Catholic Register, once a fairly solid and trustworthy publication, has become the only mainstream journal (to my knowledge) to buy into the trad hysteria over the removal of one of the worst bishops in the world.
Edward Pentin has been Pent-up too long, it seems. Here he buys into the rallying cry of the extreme right wing in the Church that the bishop of the City of the East in Paraguay was unjustly removed.
Here’s my comment, which I assume will be published at the site …
Livieres handling of Urrutigoity was shameful. He let a known sexual abuser in his diocese, despite having been warned against doing so by Urrutigoity’s former bishop. He made him a monsignor and his vicar general, giving him unfettered access to boys, even after Urrutigoity admitted to sleeping with boys as a form of “spiritual direction”.
It is shameful that NCR is buying into the reactionary hysteria over the removal of an obviously harmful bishop. I’m sure left / right politics entered into this, and the Vatican said Livieres was not removed solely because of Urrutigoity – but a bishop who would enable an abuser like that and make him his vicar general is a bishop who should be not only removed, but tarred and feathered on his way out of town.
In addition, Urrutigoity has been involved in a number of shady financial dealings, has thereby (allegedly) victimized many donors financially, and is clearly (according to a number of people, including many of his bishops and superiors) a dangerous man in many ways.
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