Friday, March 29, AD 2024 4:28am

PopeWatch: Sacred Betrayal

The most interesting tidbits about this Pope and the gang of villains he surrounds himself with tend to be in Spanish.  Edward Pentin gives us the latest:

The widow of a former dean of the Vatican diplomatic corps has written an exposé accusing one of Pope Francis’ closest aides of betraying her family and covering up for grave misconduct.

Martha Alegria Reichmann, whose late husband, Alejandro Valladares, was the Honduran ambassador to the Holy See for 22 years, explains in the book, Sacred Betrayal, how they were once close friends of Cardinal Óscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, the longtime archbishop of Tegucigalpa.

Her book, so far only in Spanish, chronicles how the cardinal, who is coordinator of the “council of cardinals” advising the Holy Father on Church reform, advised her to make a bad financial investment that caused her to lose her life savings. She also provides details of the cardinal’s support for Bishop Juan Josè Pineda, who has been accused of sexual abuse of seminarians, living in active homosexual relationships and financial impropriety. Pope Francis accepted Bishop Pineda’s resignation last July, but no details of any disciplinary measures have been revealed.

The Register spoke to Alegria March 26.

 

Mrs. Alegria, what are your reasons for writing this book?

First of all, because, following the fraud, I suffered; and the consequent betrayal of Cardinal Maradiaga to my family: I discovered a dark side in him, and I could not live in peace and serenity for the rest of my life without having made this public denunciation; because my Christian, ethical and moral principles did not allow me to keep quiet about such terrible things — that would have made me responsible for a cover-up; because to declare what I know and what they have done to me is not only a right that I have, but a duty; because I am a victim of the corrupt system that reigns in the current papacy.

I do not limit myself to telling my painful experience. I go much further because there are things that many people don’t know for lack of information; also, because the wicked triumph when the righteous are silent; and because God himself is being mocked.

 

Why did you choose the title Sacred Betrayal?

Because I have been betrayed by people who carry a sacred investiture: former Bishop Juan Josè Pineda, Cardinal Oscar Andrès Rodrìguez Maradiaga and Pope Francis — three people I trusted blindly. In my book, everything is very well explained and demonstrated. There’s no doubt that’s how it was.

Go here to read the rest.  PopeWatch is sure that the author and her late husband were pure as the driven slush in their dealings involving Maradiaga, and she seems to be coming forward now due to her grievance about losing a wad of cash in the investment recommended by Maradiaga, but you don’t find swans in sewers, and that is what crooks like Maradiaga have been busily transforming the Vatican into.

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Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Wednesday, April 10, AD 2019 4:49am

Den of thieves, cesspool, house of ill repute. Cleaning house in Rome is going to take more than human effort. Opening a can of divine intervention and pouring it out might just do the job. Pine scented of course. Remove the Lavender from the Holy chambers.

Saint Pope John Paul II,
Pray for Holy…HOLY Catholic Church.

father of seven
father of seven
Wednesday, April 10, AD 2019 5:08am

With all due respect, Maradiaga is a cardinal because of JP2. I very much doubt he had some recent conversion to the dark side, but likely has been the same corrupt, abusive homosexual from the start. No loving father foists this miscreant on his children.

Mary De Voe
Wednesday, April 10, AD 2019 10:15am

Francis is building the walls of his dust bin in history.

Dale Price
Dale Price
Wednesday, April 10, AD 2019 11:23am

JPII is responsible for his picks, no doubt.
One thing I would note is that clerical tacking/sail-trimming to make the bosses happy and yourself promotion-worthy is not a new phenomenon. But it’s pretty clear that JPII did much less due diligence than Benedict in that regard. By all accounts, his elevation of Bergoglio was over the vociferous objection of then-Superior General Kolvenbach. It is now general knowledge that his selection of Mr. McCarrick infuriated local Catholics who went to Rome to protest. I’ve read a similar account of outrage regarding the selection of Edward Egan to lead New York.

Michael Paterson-Seymour
Michael Paterson-Seymour
Wednesday, April 10, AD 2019 1:00pm

“[S]he seems to be coming forward now due to her grievance about losing a wad of cash in the investment recommended by Maradiaga.”

Giving bad financial advice is only morally reprehensible if there is something more: some element of bad faith, corrupt motive, guilty knowledge or fraudulent intent.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Wednesday, April 10, AD 2019 1:49pm

father of seven and Dale Price.

I can not refute the poor choices made by my beloved JPII. Full knowledge of the characters he advanced or defended is only as good as the intel, regardless, the responsibly rest squarely on his shoulders..God rest his soul.

The twentieth century was ushered in with ominous overtones. St. Pope Leo the XIII and his visions. Fatima apparitions and warnings 1917.
I’m not making excuses for St. Pope JPII.
I’m stating that the evil one was full court press for a century…and counting.

God help us all.

Greg Mockeridge
Greg Mockeridge
Wednesday, April 10, AD 2019 3:03pm

Phillip:

Leo XIII is not a canonized saint. If his cause was being pushed, however, I wouldn’t volunteer to be Devil’s Advocate.

If the buck stops at the top in secular world, how much more does it do so in the Church? The fact that JPII is a canonized saint doesn’t make many of his episcopal appointments any less horrendous.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Wednesday, April 10, AD 2019 7:21pm

@ Greg Mockeridge.

My mistake.
Thanks for the correction.
“The fact that JPII is a canonized saint doesn’t make many of his episcopal appointments any less horrendous.”
True.
Perfection is not found in our Church nor or own homes. I hope that his appointments were not a blatant attempt to forward an agenda that hurt our Church or it’s faithful.
The kissing of the Quran and ecumenical assembly at Assisi was uncomfortable, however his leadership in his earlier years and early in his pontificate his writings and actions gave Hope a place in many a fractured heart.

Why St. Maximilian Kolbe and his life became a source of grace in my fractured heart in the late nineties, I can’t fully explain, but it was in Marytown and during the four day retreat surrounded by OFM brothers and priests that the scales began falling off my eyes.
I realize how much I do not know about St. Pope JP II that doesn’t fit my recent appreciation for orthodoxy, however I can’t help but wonder if I would of found St.Kolbe without John Paul’s support.

The Ark Church…the re-opening of Faustina’s Diary in light of the Polish interpretation by a Pole….Fatima, World Youth Conferences…

Was he perfect?
No.

Did he help or hinder mother Church?

In the end God will tell us.
Peace Greg.

Penguins Fan
Penguins Fan
Wednesday, April 10, AD 2019 7:21pm

JPII ‘s episcopal appointments and his refusal to listen to the bad things about them smack of a bad Polish trait – stubbornness. He truly did appoint some awful men to the episcopate. However, their behavior as bishops is squarely on them. Maradiaga deserves a solitary prison cell somewhere.

Greg Mockeridge
Greg Mockeridge
Wednesday, April 10, AD 2019 7:39pm

Phillip:

I agree there were many things about the papacy of St. JPII that were stellar. But I think the cult of personality that grew around him blinded many, perhaps including himself to a degree, to some of the more glaring shortcomings of his pontificate.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Wednesday, April 10, AD 2019 8:12pm

Greg Mockeridge.

Very possible, the cult of personality may have hindered his reasoning. I can’t imagine how crafty the minions were at work trying their hardest to inflate his ego. To allow an element of pride take hold. Could you imagine 300,000 plus showing up for Pa Pa…and your the PaPa?

God bless you.
Have a good night.

Greg Mockeridge
Greg Mockeridge
Wednesday, April 10, AD 2019 10:20pm

The problem of the whole Cult of Personality is a far more serious problem in the Church than most people realize or even are willing to accept. The whole Santo Subito craze that immediately followed the death of John Paul II was extremely harmful. And I blame his successor for a lot of that. Ratzinger became pope knowing Maciel was arguably the worst clerical sexual predator in modern Church history and still pushed to fast track the canonization process of the pope who did more than anyone to champion him. So we see the Cult of Personality extends beyond just JPII. And there are still unanswered questions as to what JPII knew about Maciel and when did he know it. It has done enormous harm to the credibility of the canonization process itself.

We often decry the Cult of Personalty in the secular world while being oblivious and/or obstinately ignorant as to how it has infected the Church. Here would do well to meditate on what Our Lord says about removing the board from our own eye before removing the speck from someone else’s.

Ezabelle
Ezabelle
Wednesday, April 10, AD 2019 10:20pm

“but you don’t find swans in sewers, and that is what crooks like Maradiaga have been busily transforming the Vatican into.”

When they tried to clean up the sewer that is the Vatican bank, the man who was doing the cleaning ended up being framed for child sexual abuse and he is now locked up in a cell awaiting his appeal. Cardinal Pell.

Re: St JP2- he is a saint I look to and a Pope I greatly admire too. But agree he did make some bad appointments. However in his defence, I once heard that if the Communist regime wanted to bring down a man, the one thing they did was accuse the man of either homosexuality or child abuse. And so St JP2 being a man who grew up with clear knowledge and dislike of this regime, would have likely waived off allegations of clerical abuse or homosexuality when they were brought to him as false allegations. I don’t think St JP2 had an agenda which exists today. And in his defence, I don’t think he was fully aware of what was going on in the Vatican. Human flaws are difficult to accept in our Saints. But God sees all and knows all.

Michael Paterson-Seymour
Michael Paterson-Seymour
Thursday, April 11, AD 2019 2:13am

Donald R McClarey wrote, “The fact that they were looking to a Cardinal for financial advice, and that he was giving such advice, makes the whole situation give off a bad odor.”

Perhaps, they thought, rightly or wrongly, that His Eminence was privy to some “inside information.”

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