He has already scored a major victory for the perpetrators of minor-molestation. The proximate cause is that he has simply closed down the investigation into Father Maciel, very credibly accused of molestation in Mexico. The victory is that the press has barely noticed. The news was released on a Friday afternoon (yes, the Vatican has spin doctors too), and largely disappeared from view over the weekend. Even more remarkable, no reasons were given for the end of the inquiry, no judgments were made about the accusers or the accused. It was just an exercise of papal power in protecting the core leaders of the new ultra-orthodoxy. Money quote:
In Mexico, where the case against Maciel began, word about the end of the investigation made headlines in most daily newspapers over the weekend, and several victims many of them prominent professionals said they were incredulous that the Vatican would drop the case. Juan Vaca, one of men who accused Maciel, now an adjunct professor of psychology and sociology at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., said that the Vatican investigator, Monsignor Charles Scicluna, had told him and other victims he was convinced they were telling the truth.
“He even said, ‘The church owes you a public apology, because we failed to protect you,’ ” said Vaca, a former priest. “This will end the credibility of the Vatican, from the pope down. I don’t believe they are going to do such damage to the credibility of the Vatican.” In its news release, the Legionaries said that Maciel had “unambiguously affirmed his innocence.” Asked whether the Vatican’s decision not to bring legal proceedings amounted to an exoneration, Jay Dunlap, the communications director for the Legionaries North American region, said, “That’s what it sounds like to us.”
Maciel is a major voice in the burgeoning conservative nexus in Rome, the founder of the Legion of Christ, a Francoite body of far right views. That new power structure evidently matters more to this Pope than the victims of priestly abuse. This was always going to be a test-case. Benedict has failed – or succeeded – depending on your point of view. My point of view is that of the victims.
The Dish 