Vatican Cardinal: Pope Francis Is ‘Ice-Cold, Cunning Machiavellian’

The German progressive weekly Der Spiegel has ended its love affair with the pope, declaring that the Church’s sex abuse crisis is “increasingly about Pope Francis.” In a stunning cover article titled “The Silence of the Shepherds,” the magazine blasts the pope for his unwillingness to answer direct questions regarding what he knew about the serial homosexual abuse by U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and when he knew it. An August 25 report from a high-ranking Vatican official declared that the pope was aware of McCarrick’s misdeeds at least as early as 2013—since the official personally informed him—and yet lifted sanctions against McCarrick that Pope Benedict had imposed and employed him as a consultant in naming new American bishops. -- More...