by Roberto de Mattei, Stampa la Notizia, 05 September 2018

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who brought to light the existence of a network of corruption in the Vatican, calling into question those responsible, starting with the supreme ecclesiastical authorities, will be punished for telling the truth? Pope Francis is examining this possibility, if it is true, as confirmed by several sources, who consulted cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, and some other canonist, to study the possible canonical sanctions to be sprayed against the archbishop, starting with the suspension a divinis .

If the news were confirmed it would be of extreme gravity, and even a little surreal, since the “expert” summoned to sanction Msgr. Viganò would be that cardinal Coccopalmerio, who is accused by the former nuncio in the United States of being part of the “gay lobby” that dominates the Vatican.

We cannot forget, moreover, that the cardinal’s secretary, mgr. Luigi Capozzi, is involved in a case of gay orgies, in which the position of his superior must still be clarified. But the basic problem is of course another. The Catholic Church, as a visible society, has a criminal law, which is the right that it possesses, to punish the faithful who have committed violations of its law.

In this regard, it is necessary to distinguish between sin and crime. Sin regards a violation of the moral order, the crime a transgression of the canonical law of the Church, which is naturally different from the civil law of the States.

All crimes are sins, but not all sins are crimes. There are crimes common to civil and canonical legislation, such as the crime of pedophilia, but other crimes are such only for canon law and not for the penal law of States.

Homosexuality and concubinage, for example, are not considered crimes by most contemporary states, but serious crimes remain for the clergy that incur and as such are sanctioned by canon law. In fact, crime is not every external action that violates a law, but only that violation for which non-compliance is provided for a penalty, according to the principle of nullum crimen, nulla pena sine lege .

The Code of Canon Law, as recently mentioned by Father Giovanni Scalese in his blog Antiquo Robore , considers crime not only the abuse against minors, but also other sins against the sixth commandment, such as concubinage and the scandalous situation, which includes homosexuality (canon 395 of the New Code).

These distinctions do not seem clear to Pope Francis, who proclaims “zero tolerance” against civil crimes, such as pedophilia, but invokes “forgiveness” and mercy for the “sins of youth”, such as homosexuality, forgetting the presence of this crime in the laws of the Church. But then, and here lies the contradiction, the laws of the Church are invoked to strike, not the immoral clergy, but who denounces the immorality of the clergy, as Mgr. Carlo Maria Viganò, who in his testimony has done nothing but move along the line of the reformers of the Church, from Saint Pier Damiani to Saint Bernardino of Siena, great whippers of sodomy.

What is the reason for the canonical punishment that one would like to apply to the courageous archbishop? Pope Francis could answer, as in the fable of Phaedrus: I do not need to give reasons, I punish him Quia nominor leo , because I am the strongest.

But when authority is not exercised to serve the truth it becomes an abuse of power, and the victim of the abuse of power gains a strength that no one can take away from him: the power of Truth. At this tragic moment in the life of the Church, the first thing that not only Catholics, but the public opinion of all the world asks Churchmen is to “live without lies” to use a famous expression of Solgenitsin. The time of the socialist dictatorships is over and the truth is destined to prevail.

 

https://www.corrispondenzaromana.it/larcivescovo-vigano-punito-per-aver-detto-la-verita/