Cardinal Donald Wuerl To Meet With Pope Francis To Discuss Possibility Of Resigning

The embattled archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl said on Tuesday that he expects to meet with Pope Francis soon to discuss the possibility of resigning.

Wuerl stated in a letter to priests in the diocese that there would be an upcoming meeting with the Pope in Vatican City. He disclosed the Pope asking him to consider the best course of action “as we face new revelations of the extent of the horror of the clergy abuse of children and the failures in episcopal oversight.”

A number of prominent D.C. Catholics and groups of sexual abuse survivors demanded Wuerl’s resignation after the grand jury report that found Wuerl and others protected “predatory priests” and kept them in the ministry during his tenure as bishop of Pittsburgh. After archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò released an 11-page letter that detailed Wuerl’s alleged knowledge of and failure to confront Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s alleged abuses.

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Fr. Kevin M. Cusick tweeted the letter on Tuesday, “BREAKING: In letter to priests today Cardinal Wuerl writes that he will travel again to Rome soon to meet with Pope Francis and discuss resignation.”

BREAKING: In letter to priests today Cardinal Wuerl writes that he will travel again to Rome soon to meet with Pope Francis and discuss resignation. pic.twitter.com/CrzkcA0SYh

— Fr. Kevin M. Cusick (Blue Check Mark here) (@MCITLFrAphorism) September 11, 2018

“It was clear that some decision, sooner rather than later, on my part is an essential aspect so that this archdiocesan Church we all love can move forward,” Wuerl wrote. “As a fruit of our discernment I intend, in the very near future, to go to Rome to meet with our Holy Father about the resignation I presented nearly three years ago, November 12, 2015.”

In his letter Tuesday, the cardinal wrote, “At issue is how to begin effectively to bring a new level of healing to survivors who have personally suffered so much and to the faithful entrusted to our care who have also been wounded by the shame of these terrible actions and have questions about their bishop’s ability to provide the necessary leadership.”

In a statement last month, Wuerl defended his actions, “While I understand this report may be critical of some of my actions, I believe the report confirms that I acted with diligence, with concern for the victims and to prevent future acts of abuse.”

“I sincerely hope that a just assessment of my actions, past and present, and my continuing commitment to the protection of children will dispel any notions otherwise made by this report.”

A meeting at the Vatican is planned for Thursday with Cardinal Sean O’Mally, the Pope’s top adviser on clergy sex abuse, and Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to discuss the best way to handle the huge clergy abuse scandal.

Pope Francis would like to put the full responsibility of exposing the sins of the Catholic Church onto–you guessed it, Satan.

Pope Francis delivered a homily on Tuesday morning imploring the hierarchy of the Catholic Church to pray and resist the “Great Accuser,” Satan, who he says seeks to expose sin in order to divide the faithful.

“In these times, it seems like the ‘Great Accuser’ has been unchained and is attacking bishops. True, we are all sinners, we bishops. He tries to uncover the sins, so they are visible in order to scandalize the people. The ‘Great Accuser,’ as he himself says to God in the first chapter of the Book of Job, ‘roams the earth looking for someone to accuse,’” Francis said, according to an official report in Vatican news.

Francis adding that in theses days, “the Great Accuser, has been let loose and he’s got it in for the bishops. True, there are, we are all sinners, we bishops.”

We see the first reference to Satan as the “Great Accuser” in the book of Job, in the Old Testament.

If we are to listen to the Pope, it appears his suggestion to the people is their consideration for the true victims of the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, the bishops.

The Devil, Francis explains, “roams the world seeking how to blame. The strength of the bishop against the great accuser is prayer — his own and Jesus’, the humility to feel chosen and staying close to the people of God without heading toward an aristocratic life.”

Pope Francis, further fomenting division pushes the blame for the accusations into the hands of the “elites,” saying, “The ‘elites’ criticize bishops, while the people has an attitude of love towards the bishop. This is almost a special unction that confirms the bishop in his vocation.”

Exposing these serious sex crimes, and the obvious attempt to cover them up is not an act of the Devil, it is simply the act of justice being served.