Current Pope: You Know, Accusations About Pedophilia and Cover-Ups Are Really the Work of the "Great Accuser," Satan

From refusing to speak on the matter at all to claiming these charges are all inspired by Satan. That's quite a shift.

"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'. A bishop's strength against the 'Great Accuser' is prayer, that of Jesus and his own, and the humility of being chosen and remaining close to the people of God, without seeking an aristocratic life that removes this unction. Let us pray, today, for our bishops: for me, for those who are here, and for all the bishops throughout the world."

Guy Benson notes that some American Catholics who are concerned by this issue are surprised to learn they're being animated by Satan himself.

Ed Morrissey writes:

There are two ways to look at this statement, but neither of them end well. In the more charitable version, Pope Francis is emphasizing the need for prayer to defeat "the Great Accuser" and loving support of the bishops under attack. If one believes in the existence of the devil and in the reality of spiritual warfare (as I do with both), then this argument falls within understanding -- but still misses the point. The issue here isn't so much that the devil is uncovering the sins, but that the Catholic hierarchy has continued to cover them up. That gives "the Great Accuser" a perfect vantage point to attack all bishops with the sins of a few and their participation in preventing them from being aired earlier. And that's no one's fault except the Catholic hierarchy's, which includes Francis at the top.

The less charitable take from this passage is that Pope Francis is equating the victims coming forward with the devil, or at least putting them in the same league. That's grotesque enough to make that less likely to be Francis' intent, but victims and their families can certainly be forgiven for that takeaway from today's homily. In the context of Francis' remarks about silence last week and his earlier attack on Chilean accusers -- for which he made a public apology and promised to do better 00 the message from the Vatican certainly appears to be shut up and pray.

The most acute problem at hand for the Catholic Church is not that the devil is looking for priests and bishops to accuse, but that enough of both are known internally to be guilty and yet remain protected by this silence.

posted by Ace of Spades at 03:18 PM

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