A story that could destroy Pope Francis's papacy: Martel says Francis knew about McCarrick corrupting seminarians and considered it unimportant

Pope Francis: The least serious sins are the sins of the flesh.

According to Damien Thompson on Twitter, Frederic Martel's still embargoed book on homosexuality in the Vatican alleges that Pope Francis knew about McCarrick's homosexual sex life, but still made a favourite of him until the Pope learnt that minors were involved. 

Someone else on Twitter breaks the embargo and quotes the book.

“When the pope dismissed the allegations, his entourage indicated to me that ‘Francis was initially informed by Viganò that Cardinal McCarrick had had homosexual relations with over-age seminarians, which was not enough to condemn him.’”

In writing his book Mr Martel spoke to many of the highest prelates in Rome and priests close to the Pope. He met and interviewed the Pope's close adviser Father Spadaro. If this sentence from the book is true and (more difficult) stands up it destroys Pope Francis's papacy, which was in any case in huge trouble.

When asked about Archbishop Viganò's allegation that he told the Pope in 2013 that McCarrick was corrupting seminarians the usually very loquacious Pope said he would say nothing about it and he has kept to his word.

There is much more here.


In fact, the book points out, after this Francis continued to ask McCarrick's advice on episcopal appointments and sent him as an informal papal ambassador to Cuba, Armenia and various other countries. According to Cardinal Marc Ouellet,

“The former Cardinal had been requested not to travel or to make public appearances, in order to avoid new rumours about him.”

Martel is in favour of homosexual priests, by the way, is a homosexual activist but confirms Archbishop Viganò's allegations. He is writing his book, which comes out on the 21st, partly to support the Pope in his merciful attitude to homosexual acts. 


McCarrick is gone to a friary and the Vatican hopes to hear no more about him but he has remade the Church in America. Archbishop Viganò claimed that McCarrick "orchestrated" the appointments of Cardinal Cupich as Archbishop of Chicago and Cardinal Tobin as Archbishop of Newark. Cardinal Farrell, whom the Pope appointed Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church four days ago, is McCarrick's protege too and Pope Francis's election was also in part engineered by McCarrick.