Maradiaga: Some Questions.

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A translation of a Spanish blog post. The original is here.

There is only one solution to the present problem of Maradiaga and the Pope: a clear rebuttal of the accusations. “I love you very much, I trust you very much, how I suffer when I see what you suffer ...” is a waste of everybody’s time. Things have to be cleared up once and for all, whoever ends up being blamed. Does Maradiaga receive very significant monthly payments? Yes or no? Receiving lots of dollars isn’t bad in itself: it can be good if the dollars are used well. Are they spent well? Can an organisation in a very poor country use these dollars to fund activities outside that organisation in spite of its own obligations? Are the activities relevant to the organisation or not? Does the Cardinal have an assistant who needs to be kept out of sight? Is everything a gross slander? What about Bishop Zanchetta, with health so poor he had to resign his Argentine diocese yet nevertheless was found suitable for a high position in the Roman Curia? Is there a skeleton in some cupboard or other? All these things, and others, affect the credibility of the Pope who, at the very least, will be thought of as covering up some odd things. And what has happened to some people who might be thought, rightly or wrongly, to have been involved in some of the covering up?

A Pope will always be the object of slander from enemies of the Church. Some allegations are so implausible that they do not merit a denial. If someone accused Bergoglio of being behind Kennedy's assassination, it would be absurd for him to deny it. Leave mad people to worry about mad things. But there are facts that implicate him one way or another. To give a minor yet scandalous example, Bertone's flat. Bertone is still there and right in the Pope’s sight. There may be papalotrists who will affirm that the Vicars of Christ do not have eyes. Well, they’re wrong. It may be a matter of little importance but it does have some. And it becomes more important when there is a person who looks with a magnifying glass at other defects, imagined or real, and wastes no time in denouncing them.