O’Malley: I’m still the pope’s man
Cardinal refutes speculation of Vatican snub after being left off panel
Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley says he remains as close to Pope Francis and involved in fighting against sex crimes in the church as ever, pushing back on speculation that followed his being left off of the organizing committee for a summit aimed at preventing abuse.
O’Malley told the Herald he retains the trust of the pope, who has kept O’Malley leading the Vatican advisory commission of the sex abuse of minors.
“I’m still on the commission, and I’m still one of his advisers — I’m going next month for another meeting,” O’Malley said of the pope.
The cardinal, who’s the archbishop of Boston, said the fact he’s not on the summit committee is simply a case of logistics.
“We still have the commission,” O’Malley said following an event in Malden. “The point-person of the group is a member of our commission — Father Zollner, who lives in Rome , and so they need someone there who will be able to organize it and pull it off.”
Francis summoned leaders of the world’s bishops conferences to the Vatican Feb. 21-24 after the abuse scandal erupted in his native South America and again in the U.S., and he botched the case of a Chilean bishop implicated in a cover-up.
The stakes of the meeting grew exponentially after the Vatican told U.S. bishops earlier this month not to vote on proposed new measures to investigate sexual misconduct or cover-up within their ranks. The Vatican still hasn’t explained why it blocked the vote on a U.S. code of conduct for bishops and a lay-led board to investigate them. The proposals were only given to the Vatican at the last minute and were said to contain legal problems. The head of the U.S. bishops conference, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, said the Holy See wanted to delay any vote until after the February global summit.
O’Malley said this event is aimed at getting the various conferences around the world on the same page.
“We need to come up with very clear policies throughout the whole world , it’s a global response that we’re looking for,” O’Malley said.