Pope refuses to comment on claim he ignored sex abuse
rome — Pope Francis has declined to comment on a claim he personally ignored sexual abuse allegations against a senior clergyman, after a visit to Ireland dominated by Church scandals.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican envoy to the United States, said he had told Francis of the allegations against prominent US cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 2013.
But rather than punish McCarrick, who was forced to resign last month, Vigano said Francis had lifted sanctions imposed on him by his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI.
Vigano called on Francis to resign in a letter published Saturday in the National Catholic Register.
He said the pope “knew from at least June 23, 2013, that McCarrick was a serial predator,” adding that “he knew that he was a corrupt man, he covered for him to the bitter end”.
But the pope refused to address the brewing scandal on Sunday.
“I will not say a word about that. I think that the communique speaks for itself,” Francis said on his plane as he flew back from Dublin to Rome.
He had “begged for God’s forgiveness” for past clerical abuse scandals during his landmark trip to Ireland, where they have badly damaged the image of the Catholic Church.
He said he was demanding “firm and decisive” measures to find “truth and justice”.
Before 45,000 supporters at the rain-soaked Knock shrine in the west of Ireland on Sunday, the pope spoke of the “open wound” of the scandals. He later said mass to tens of thousands of flag-waving worshippers before heading back to Rome after his two-day visit. —