Benedict's Punishment of Maciel - another reason for his resignation? (News Stories)

by James, Australia, Wednesday, April 07, 2010, 10:49 (1143 days ago) @ Paul
edited by James, Wednesday, April 07, 2010, 12:48

Late last month, the Legionaries issued a vaguely worded statement of regret to unnamed victims of Maciel -- four years after Pope Benedict XVI banished him from active ministry to "a life of prayer and repentance" for abusing seminarians.

I don't know specifically what the seminarians were alleging, but the word "abuse" these days is a euphemism for what is essentially sexual assault on persons who have in fact not consented, on persons who are deemed not to be able to consent sex (minors) or on persons who, at least up to a certain age, are deemed not to be able to consent because of the relationship of trust and reliance, such as teacher/student relationships.

Was Maciel sent to a monastery because there was no evidence of a crime against the law where the offences took place - presumably Mexico and elsewhere?

Or is that just further confirmation of what Manuel Vicent described recently in his article in El Pais, that the Church ignores issues as to the criminality of its priests and the maximum punishment is stripping them of their right to minister publicly to the faithful as priests and sending them off to a monastery to do penance.

If Benedict, now as Pope, ignored what may well have been criminal activity in the secular sense on the part of Maciel, and did not report that to the relevant police or prosecuting authorities, isn't that just one more reason why he should resign?

After all, is not bound by any of the provisions of Canon Law. The Pope is Canon Law. Canon 1404 states,

"The First See is judged by no one."

So, if he is above the law and is not bound by his own declaration in 2001 of "Pontifical Secret", what excuse does he have for not handing the information over to the police?