Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 8:07pm

PopeWatch: Uncle Ted

 “Yeah, five years. If we had five years, the Lord working through Bergoglio in five years could make the Church over again.”
 “He will walk across the stage and people will follow him. They will find in him like they found in the ‘Pied Piper of Hamelin’ they will find in him a certain charism that this is what God’s love is all about and this is what Francis is all about.”
“The longer he is in the more I think it is likely we could see that he has changed the papacy.” 
Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, October 1, 2013

 

 

So the  Pope unleashed the ultimate sanction against the former Cardinal McCarrick by making him one of us, a member of the laity.  Color PopeWatch unimpressed.  Until the Pope could no longer publicly deny the evidence, McCarrick was one of his right hand men.  Let’s take a trip down memory lane:

From National Catholic Reporter in 2014:

 

The day before a newly elected Pope Francis was to be formally installed at the Vatican in 2013, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica when he passed out at the altar and had to be rushed to the hospital.

It was a scary moment, and especially odd to see McCarrick stricken; even at 82, the energetic former archbishop of Washington always had a reputation as one of the most peripatetic churchmen in the Catholic hierarchy.

Doctors in Rome quickly diagnosed a heart problem — McCarrick would eventually get a pacemaker — and the cardinal was soon back at his guest room in the U.S. seminary in Rome when the phone rang. It was Francis. The two men had known each other for years, back when the Argentine pope was Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires. McCarrick assured Francis that he was doing fine.

“I guess the Lord isn’t done with me yet,” he told the pope.

“Or the devil doesn’t have your accommodations ready!” Francis shot back with a laugh.

McCarrick loves to tell that story, because he loves to tell good stories and because he has a sense of humor as keen as the pope’s. But the exchange also says a lot about the improbable renaissance McCarrick is enjoying as he prepares to celebrate his 84th birthday in July.

McCarrick is one of a number of senior churchmen who were more or less put out to pasture during the eight-year pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. But now Francis is pope, and prelates like Cardinal Walter Kasper (another old friend of McCarrick’s) and McCarrick himself are back in the mix and busier than ever.

 

Go here to read the rest.

 

In 2015 McCarrick went with the Pope to Cuba.  Go here to read about it.

 

Whispers in the Loggia on November 5, 2016 lauded McCarrick’s influence in having Tobin named Cardinal of Newark:

As reported at the top, multiple signs point to Newark’s fourth archbishop as the lead architect behind the choice of his second successor. Having maintained an enduring devotion for and among the Jersey church since his transfer to the capital in 2000, McCarrick – who Francis is said to revere as “a hero” of his – made a direct appeal over recent weeks for Tobin to be named to Newark, according to two sources familiar with the cardinal’s thinking.

Go here to read the rest.

In 2016 McCarrick received The Spirit of Francis award from Catholic Extension:

Father Jack Wall, president of Catholic Extension, said, “We are delighted to honor a true hero of the U.S. Catholic Church, who continues to proclaim and live the Gospel and who shows all of us the way for a life of discipleship and mercy in the 21st century.

“It is no wonder that Cardinal McCarrick has emerged as a trusted global envoy for Pope Francis and his mission of ‘going out to the peripheries.’”

Go here to read the rest.

The Pope had no problem making use of McCarrick, although he clearly knew that McCarrick was a predator.  It was only when McCarrick’s crimes became too public that the Pope had to jettison his “hero”.

 

 

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Don L
Don L
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 4:01am

May the “no longer naive” laity never rest, until the massive scourge, still actively ensconced in all levels of God’s holy church, is exorcised.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 4:04am

Some stains take longer to dissolve and completely remove. Let us not abandon the power of United prayer and fasting for Holy Church. The agitator is working just fine..but our efforts must include prayers and fasting…the soap, so to speak.

For a true shepherd who is worthy to be called Pope, let us pray…Lord hear our prayers.

David Sharples
David Sharples
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 4:32am

“Yeah, five years. If we had five years, the Lord working through Bergoglio in five years could make the Church over again.”
I’ve been through enough to know that when some persons refer to “the Lord”, they’re not referring to Our Lord Jesus.

Penguins Fan
Penguins Fan
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 5:37am

I believe Vigano. Bergoglio knew everything about McCarrick and promoted him anyway.

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 5:50am

My parish priest, Fr. Jeff Kirby, wrote the following at Crux Magazine:

“The pope needs to address the charges leveled against him by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano and the questions surrounding portions of his episcopal ministry in Argentina. If he made mistakes, he needs to repent. If he put his trust in the wrong people or for the wrong reasons, then he needs to address them and take accountability. Dismissing these and thinking he can make veiled comments in liturgical homilies and that they will go away, only indicates that he does not realize how much this omission hurts his moral authority and the trust that people of goodwill wish to place in him. Right or wrong, the pope needs to clear the air and regain a higher level of trust in himself and in his authority to shepherd and reform the Church.”

Read more here where McCarrick is specifically discussed:

https://cruxnow.com/commentary/2019/02/17/voicing-immense-hope-that-francis-will-act-swiftly-and-honestly-on-abuse/

I tell you truly, if there weren’t priests like him in the Roman Church, I would go Orthodox. Like it or not, they got valid Sacraments (Mysteries) and a valid priesthood and episcopate.

Paul Mitchell
Paul Mitchell
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 6:16am

Make no mistake: with the appointment of Farrell as Camerlengo, McCarrick is still one of the Pope’s right-hand men!

OrdinaryCatholic
OrdinaryCatholic
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 7:38am

“… We would say that, through some mysterious crack—no, it’s not mysterious; through some crack, the smoke of Satan has entered the Church of God. There is doubt, uncertainty, problems, unrest, dissatisfaction, confrontation.” Pope Paul VI 1972

And with this smoke now comes the putrid smell of rotting souls from the very fires of hell itself. Devils now unleashed walk visibly among us in the Church accompanied willingly or ignorantly by shepherds who have turned their eyes from their duty, mission and Master scattering their sheep with smiles, lies and treachery. Applauded for their lies, the false shepherds bathe in worldly praise while the faithful heroically hang on the Barque of Peter strengthened by His grace alone.

Those who accept the Truth are freed from deceptive words and actions and see the evil with clarity. And those blindly following self-righteous shepherds are risking the damnation of their souls by that ancient red dragons’ tail that now sweeps through the Church. There are no gray areas. The line has been drawn. Stark and very visible for all to see. McCarrick et al stands on one side of that line. Where do we stand?

McCarrick’s “fall” is window dressing for the upcoming summit on sexual abuse. Appease the masses, the “great unwashed”. Nothing will be done. It is not the Pope or the bishops and priests who will clean and purge this Church but Christ Himself and that will be a an awful and terrible time for all. A smaller and more pure Church in the end. Are we ready for it? Will we be part of this smaller Church?

Pray for our country and our Church

Morenowthanever
Morenowthanever
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 9:12am

“He will walk across the stage and people will follow him. They will find in him like they found in the ‘Pied Piper of Hamelin’ they will find in him a certain charism…”

“All these kingdoms are mine”

Greg Mockeridge
Greg Mockeridge
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 9:50am

This is how it works under Pope JPII…as in Juan Peron II.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 10:02am

“In 2016 McCarrick received The Spirit of Francis award from Catholic Extension.”

Would that be the spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi or himself, PF?
Makes more sense if the award was named after the latter. Maybe the Lavender Mafia could drum up their own fashion show and gather them all together in a nice little bundle. Prepare them for their rewards.
Then, with help from above, a mighty rainbow descends upon them, minus the unicorn, and into the Lake of Fire they go!

Too easy….I know. ????

CAM
CAM
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 10:13am

Unbelievable Hubris. The sin of pride is why Lucifer transformed into Satan.
I hope and yes, pray that Mr. McCarrick has repented. Although if the hubris is still active I can picture him dictating his memoirs from his friary cell. Hopefully he will never leave the friary.

Chris C.
Chris C.
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 10:20am

Does anyone have any idea who the mysterious “influential and brilliant” Italian was, or likely was, who sought out and sounded out McCarirck during the conclave? Doesn’t sound like a bishop or cardinal. What influential layman, Catholic or otherwise, would have had such power and connections to affect the outcome of the conclave? I’m curious that more in the press haven’t been more curious to find out.

Mary De Voe
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 11:11am

At 3;50 uncle ted refers to his nephews, I believe unintended. McCarrick’s perfect diction and name dropping is almost diabolic. and I just had my lunch, if I can keep it.

Mary De Voe
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 11:20am

“I tell you truly, if there weren’t priests like him in the Roman Church, I would go Orthodox. Like it or not, they got valid Sacraments (Mysteries) and a valid priesthood and episcopate.”
Can the Orthodox transubstantiate bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ?
I think not, or we all would have been going there. We need Jesus Christ, The Blessed Trinity, The Blessed Virgin and the Catholic Church.

OrdinaryCatholic
OrdinaryCatholic
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 11:34am

http://canonlawmadeeasy.com/2015/07/30/can-a-catholic-ever-attend-an-orthodox-liturgy-instead-of-sunday-mass/

Mary, the above link provides an answer to your question about validity of an Orthodox Mass. In short, it is a valid Mass however for a Catholic it does not fulfill a Sunday obligation. The link explains why. Hope it helps.

Mary De Voe
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 11:54am

Thanks ORDINARYCATHOLIC. I read the piece. I did believe that when the Orthodox left the Catholic Church they no long had the power to the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist.
Supporting schism is not Catholic.
The Apostolic Succession is the work of Jesus Christ.
Following Pope Francis is like being in the desert for forty years

OrdinaryCatholic
OrdinaryCatholic
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 12:15pm

“Following Pope Francis is like being in the desert for forty years.”

Precisely and I believe it is just the beginning of the Church’s birth pangs and I think it will quickly get worse. We are in a mess, a real mess. At the TCM website there is a discussion about Charleston Heston during the filming of Ben Hur:

“Heston mastered the driving of the four-horse team more quickly than anyone else in the chariot scene, probably because of his experience with the smaller two-horse chariots he drove in The Ten Commandments (1956). Nevertheless, he was concerned about his ability to pull off the race with all the other teams on the track. Canutt assured him, “You just stay in the chariot; I guarantee you’ll win the damn race.”

I believe our Lord is saying the same thing to us in the midst of our troubles: “You just stay in the Church; I’ll guarantee you’ll win the race.”

Mary De Voe
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 3:48pm

“You just stay in the Church; I’ll guarantee you’ll win the race.” I will say so.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Monday, February 18, AD 2019 9:45pm

“I believe our Lord is saying the same thing to us in the midst of our troubles: “You just stay in the Church; I’ll guarantee you’ll win the race.”

+2

Michael Dowd
Michael Dowd
Tuesday, February 19, AD 2019 2:49am

McCarrick lives on in the morality and doctrinal confusion of many Bishops and, of course, Pope Francis. Satan appears to be running the store he bought and paid for. Making McCarrick go away does nothing, in fact worse than nothing as makes him the scapegoat and a cover for future corruption.

DonL
DonL
Tuesday, February 19, AD 2019 4:09am

Stay in the chariot, indeed? As the Apostles asked Christ, “but Lord, where would we go?”

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