by Anura Guruge
on August 18, 2022
For once, I am slightly skeptical. With all other Catholic clerics, including the ‘acquitted’ George Pell, I had no doubts; they were all guilty as accused & there are tons of others that never got accused or caught.
But, with Marc Ouellet, I, surprisingly, appear to be siding with the pope & Vatican! I have a hunch that this looks like a ‘put of job’ to harm the Vatican, the curia, the pope & obliterate Ouellet’s papabile prospects. By taking down Ouellet, another from the “ol’ guard” bites the dust. This increases the chance of a Francis acolyte becoming the next pope. At this rate, against all odds, baby-faced & still remarkably young (i.e., 65), Luis Antonio Tagle really could be the next pope! Sacré bleu.
I will also confess, that I was RELIEVED that Ouellet had NOT been accused of having his way with young boys. He has not been accused, at least as yet, of committing any overt sexual acts per se. His since, to date, appear to consist of unwelcome groping, pawing, kissing, etc. Not good — & as a father of three daughters, two still quite young, this does NOT make me happy, BUT it is not as bad as rape, oral sex or exposure. Ouellet basically is being accused of being yet another dirty old man!
I am sure events will unfold rapidly over the next few days. Stay tuned. Whatever happens, I am pretty sure that Ouellet as of now is NOT papabile & will never be.
With regard to the Ouellet allegations, I’ll refer you to this article as to why there is something Rotten in Denmark (i.e., Rome) in this case, as far as how the Vatican has handled things:https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2022/08/20/vatican-failures-in-cardinal-ouellets-case
The author of this article, Fr. Gerald Murray is a Canon lawyer in the archdiocese of NY.
With regard to Cardinal Pell’s allegations, conviction, and eventual overturning, I’ll argue he was a victim of a smear campaign. Allegations of a large sum of money being sent to “somewhere” in Australia from Rome around the time of the allegations do tie back to Cardinal Becciu, perhaps (or probably?) to keep Pell tied up in his homeland and prevent any further financial oversight of the Holy See that were planned at the beginning of this pontificate. Later events proved Becciu’s malfeasance with regard to the finances of the Holy See.
But back to Ouellet…overall, this feeling I have is that Francis is doing what he does: protects his friends and cronies until absolutely proven otherwise. To everyone’s disappointment of course–and bad optics.
But I will agree that 1) this put the kibosh on Ouellet’s papability, and 2) this puts the seemingly nice, smiling and utterly non-committal Tagle in the proverbial “catbird’s seat” as far as papabiles go…
But I never gave Ouellet much of a chance in conclave anyway. While he would have perhaps been the only true papabile from North America (north of the Rio Grande anyway), his chances were never good, despite his qualifications and years of service.
Mark, I am (as ever) glad to see your comments. I wasn’t sure whether you had seen it. I didn’t want to bother you by sending a link in that it is a ‘done deal’.
Interesting (as always). While I do know of the “Pell was framed” stories, I still have a lingering feeling that there was ‘SOME SMOKE’ there. Maybe it was not as egregious has the charges, BUT I am not sure that he was 100% innocent.
I am also torn re. Ouellet. Maybe he was too good to be true.
I now get this feeling that MAJOR MANIPULATION is already afoot ahead of the next conclave.
Yes, Tagle is looking more & more papabile!
It could also increase the chances of a U.S. pope.
ALSO, while admiring Fr. Tobon’s (& he is no longer a Br.) excellent graphic of the cardinal designates (August 17) it struck me … could we have the 2nd English cardinal? Yes, things are getting that dire.
Any NEW thoughts as to papabili.
Thanks. All the best. Cheers.