Episode 5： Pope Francis’ disturbing support of a Cardinal caught covering up sex abuse
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
155.99455
Summary
Cardinal Godfrey Daniels was one of the most controversial prelates in the Catholic Church, especially in our times because he was caught on tape in 2010 telling a victim of pedophile sexual abuse by a bishop friend of his not to go public with the abuse.
Transcript
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Hello and welcome to the John Henry Weston show. I'm the co-founder and editor-in-chief of LifeSite
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News. Pope Francis' relationship with a Cardinal caught on tape covering up sexual abuse. While
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some have suggested that pointing out errors of the Pope even when the faith is endangered
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is not permissible, the former Cardinal heading up the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith,
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Cardinal Gerhard Muller told us, and I quote, the primacy of the Pope is being undermined by the
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sycophants and careerists at the papal court and not by those who counsel the Pope in a manner
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competent and responsible. Cardinal Muller referred to a quote from the famous 16th century theologian
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Melchior Cano, and I quote, now it can be said briefly that those who defend blindly and
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indiscriminately any judgment whatsoever of the supreme pontiff concerning every matter
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weaken the authority of the apostolic see. They do not support it. They subvert it. They do not
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fortify it. Peter, he said, has no need of our lies. He has no need of our adulation, end quote.
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So let's start with the sign of the cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
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and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Cardinal Godfrey Daniels died on March 14th this year.
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We pray earnestly that God may have mercy on his soul, and in truth, he needs those prayers very
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much. The Cardinal should have been one of the most controversial prelates in the Catholic Church,
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especially in our times, because he was caught on tape in 2010 telling a victim of pedophile sexual abuse
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by a bishop friend of his not to go public with the abuse. But Cardinal Daniels was in the limelight
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with Pope Francis. At his death, Pope Francis sent a telegram commenting on Cardinal Daniels saying
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these words, and I quote, this zealous pastor served the church with dedication, not only in his diocese,
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but also at the national level as president of the Conference of Bishops of Belgium, while being a member
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of various Roman dicasteries. Attentive to the challenges of the contemporary church, Cardinal Daniels
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also took an active role in various synods of bishops, including those of 2014 and 2015, on the
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family. End quote. Those words of the Pope are very difficult to reconcile with Cardinal Daniels,
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since he opposed the church's teaching on homosexuality. You can see him here, dressed in a
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so-called rainbow stole. In May 2013, the Cardinal expressed his support for homosexual unions to
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Dutch-language newspaper De Tide. He said, and I quote, I think it's a positive development that
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states are free to open up civil marriage for gays if they want. End quote. The French-language
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newspaper Lekho also quoted the Cardinal, saying that the French people should, and I quote,
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obey the law, and not, quote, oppose gay marriage. But despite this reputation, as you can see
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in this video footage, Cardinal Daniels was one of the few Cardinals Pope Francis chose
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to come out on the balcony with him at his election to the pontificate. Cardinal Daniels
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was one of the personal appointees of Pope Francis to the First and Second Synods on the Family
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in 2014 and 2015. Also in 2015, two Belgian politicians reported to the media that Cardinal
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Daniels tried to persuade King Bedouin to sign the 1990 abortion bill into law. And apart
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from Cardinal Daniels' dissent on Catholic teaching on life and family, his notorious reputation
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as a pedophile bishop protector should give anyone, even non-Catholics, pause. Let me quote
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to you from the Reuters journalist who went through those horrible, secretly taped sessions
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between Cardinal Daniels and the sexual abuse victim who was abused by a bishop friend of
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the Cardinal from the time he was five until he was 18 years old. Reuters journalist Tom
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Hennigan reported, and I quote, In the published transcripts of that meeting, the unnamed victim,
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now 42, told Daniels he could no longer keep quiet about how his uncle, Bishop,
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Roger Vangel Wee, sexually abused him between the ages of five and 18. He says Vangel Wee could
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not remain in office and the case must be reported to the church hierarchy, but he doesn't know
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how to do this. What do you really want? asks Daniels, cutting the victim off by saying he
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already knows the story and doesn't need to hear it again. When the man says, I give you
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the responsibility, I can't decide. You should do what you think should be done because I
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Do you want this to be made public? asks the Cardinal. I leave that to you, the victim
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responds. Then Daniels begins his effort to convince him to keep the lid on the problem.
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The bishop will step down next year, so actually it would be better for you to wait, says Cardinal
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No, I can't agree that he takes his leave in glory. I can't do that, the victim replies.
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At one point, Daniels ducks and weaves, trying to fend off the victim's pleas to inform the
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church hierarchy about Vangel Wee's misdeeds. At another point, Daniels suggested the victim
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admit his guilt and ask for forgiveness. Who do I have to ask forgiveness from, the surprised
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man asks. When Daniels suggests that the victim may be trying to blackmail the church, the
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man pleads with him to take up his case, saying there has to be someone in the church who
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can handle it because he cannot bring himself to expose his uncle on his own.
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We were forced to get married by him. Our children were baptized by him. How can I explain this
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to them? he asked. Yesterday I said to my oldest son, look, this is what happened to me. They
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How indeed could Pope Francis be associated so closely with Cardinal Daniels?
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Believe it or not, Daniels was one of the Cardinals who conspired to elect Pope Francis, a truth
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that comes out in Daniels' own authorized biography. He even did a TV show promoting the book where
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he explained that he was part of this group called the Sant Gallen Mafia, or Mafia as they
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called themselves, which fought against Cardinal Ratzinger and worked for Cardinal Bergoglio's
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But that is another story. Remember our motto at LifeSite? It's caritas in veritate, the truth
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in love. And so it's actually out of love for Pope Francis that we want to call him to enunciate
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the truth and correct the errors that he has taught, which have harmed the faithful.
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For LifeSite News, I'm John Henry Weston. And remember please to sign up to our email list
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for this show and encourage your friends to do the same. May God bless you.