Hardest pope of the line: also the church senior officials far to abuse

With the resignation of an Australian archbishop, the scandal of abuse in the Roman Catholic Church has clearly entered a new phase. It is only recently that most accusations of abuse have been directed against priests and lower members of the church staff. But now several bishops, an archbishop and a cardinal had to clear the field in a short time.

Pope Francis today accepted the resignation of Philip Wilson, Archbishop of Adelaide, who was sentenced to imprisonment for another priest. Wilson appealed his conviction and objected to the call for his resignation. But when the Australian Prime Minister and his fellow bishops insisted, he resigned.

Two days earlier, Theodore McCarrick's shady retirement took place because of accusations that he had abused minors and mature students for decades. He became the first cardinal to resign since 1927.

The forced departure of a cardinal and an archbishop indicates a trend. Never before has a pope taken so many eminent leaders in such a short time.

Turnaround

Last month, Francis forced the departure of three Chilean bishops, among whom Bishop Barros, among others for the omission of abuse. by a priest. It was a turning point. Until then, the long scandal of abuse in the church did not seem to be a spearhead in this pope's politics. Since his appointment to the Vatican in 2013, he has put more emphasis on other issues such as the spread of an open and merciful church, austerity and attention to the climate change and the environment. slander, because they would have made false accusations against a priest and a bishop. When new research showed that not the victims, but a number of Chilean bishops had lied, Francis immediately changed course.

He apologized to the victims, received them and summoned the bishops. From then on, a harder new line seems to call senior church officials to account for the papal agenda.

More coat of love

The pope's new efficiency is downright opposed to politics in the past. When in 2010 the scandal of Catholic abuse went through the Netherlands and other European countries as a wave, there were also accusations against prominent people in the church. Pope Benedict XVI has taken a number of important steps, but the culture within the church to protect public servants has not changed substantially.

Officially, the church has fully cooperated with criminal investigations all over the world, but all cases against the clergy must be Vatican Department. The bishops and the cardinals were kept out of bounds.