Vatican defends Pope against ‘blasphemous’ cover-up claims

Cardinal Marc Ouellet said Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano’s claims were false and “blasphemous”, and demanded that he repent.

Six weeks after Archbishop Vigano threw the papacy into turmoil over his claims about ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the head of the Vatican’s bishops’ office said there was no evidence in his files backing the archbishop’s claims that Francis annulled any sanctions against McCarrick.

Cardinal Ouellet’s letter was issued a day after Francis authorised a “thorough study” of all Vatican archives into how McCarrick rose through the ranks of the Catholic Church despite allegations he sexually preyed on seminarians and young priests.

The letter, addressed to Archbishop Vigano but identified as an open letter to the faithful, marked an extraordinary and decisive end to the official Vatican silence about the claims.

In it, Cardinal Ouellet both defended the pope and criticised Archbishop Vigano, asserting that the conservative cleric had used the scandal over sexual abuse in the US to score ideological points with Francis’ critics on the Catholic right.

The cardinal said a review of his files showed there were no documents about any sanctions imposed on McCarrick and that it was “false” to suggest Francis had annulled any such measures.

Cardinal Ouellet did acknowledge that McCarrick had been “strongly exhorted” not to travel or appear in public,…