WASHINGTON (DC)
OnePeterFive [Manchester NH]
January 7, 2025
By T.S. Flanders
Back in 2018 during the “Summer of Shame,” the successor to (Cardinal) McCarrick was Donald Wuerl. The latter claimed he knew nothing of McCarrick’s crimes crying to heaven, but many were skeptical, and with good reason. He initially denied knowledge, and then admitted he did, in fact, know.
After the Vatican assured us that they would speedily get to the bottom of the McCarrick scandal, a man aligned with McCarrick and his agenda was appointed in 2019: Wilton Gregory, shortly thereafter Cardinal.
The next year, the McCarrick report was released by the Vatican in 2020. Vatican News reported that Cardinal Wilton Gregory praised the report as a “step forward in accountability.” The defendants in the case were allowed investigate their own innocence. Turns out they were innocent!
So let’s review: the Vatican is exposed by Archbishop Viganò as corrupt with McCarrick. Then the Vatican appoints a new successor who praises the report which denies what Viganò claimed. Viganò, meanwhile, was on a path that later led to his excommunication.
But it seems that the substantial claims of Viganò – that the Vatican knew about McCarrick – have never been substantially tackled head on by the Vatican. But Wilton Gregory helped the Vatican’s image through the worst scandal since the first sex scandal in the early 2000s. Now Gregory’s time has come, and a new successor has been appointed.
Yes, he is right in line with the program. According to Cardinalium Collegii Recensio:
Cardinal Robert Walter McElroy is a scholarly, Harvard-educated progressive American prelate closely aligned to Pope Francis’ vision for the Church but who has faced scrutiny and criticism for his views on Catholic social teaching and his own handling of sexual abuse cases.
Progressive? Check. Francis cheerleader? Check. Checkered history of corruption? Check.
McElroy has argued that Climate Change should also be a central voting issue with Pro-Life issues, stating that abandoning the Paris Climate Accord is “a far greater moral evil” than the Feds providing for the killing of life-creation (i.e. contraception). He was a vocal critic of Trump in his first term over immigration policies, and in 2023 he penned a statement in America on “Radical Inclusion” for “LGBT People” [sic] and women in the Church which said in part:
[T]he church should move toward admitting women to the diaconate, not only for reasons of inclusion but because women permanent deacons could provide critically important ministries, talents and perspectives.
What is McElroy’s position on the ancient Roman Rite? Unlike most bishops of all ideological stripes, McElroy shut down the TLMs in his diocese almost immediately (with one exception) in accordance with Traditionis Custodes.
Thus, Rorate has called McElroy the “Wicked Witch of the West” and Sammons summarises the appointment: “it diminishes DC more than it elevates McElroy.” The appointment is seen by the former as Francis’s response to Trump’s re-election last Fall, but it is also a continuation of the status quo ante with McCarrick.
In the light of Epiphany, we can think of the fear that struck Herod, that caused him to seek the Christ in order to destroy Him. These are the enemies of Christ who fear His rule. But his citizens hated him: and they sent an embassage after him, saying: We will not have this man to reign over us (Lk. xix. 14).
The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, against the Lord, and against his Christ. He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them: and the Lord shall deride them (Ps. ii).
The Christ Child strikes fear into the hearts of his enemies. Meanwhile, he fills the Magi with wonder, who seek Him over foreign lands. Let us take refuge with the Christ Child at the Crèche, dear brethren, and not be disturbed when the kings of the earth meet together against Him. Expect the Lord, do manfully, and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord (Ps. xxvi).