WE KNOW THAT HIS HOLINESS, POPE FRANCIS EITHER WON'T SING OR CAN'T SING AT MASS; DOES THIS EXPLAIN HIS TONE DEAFNESS IN OTHER AREAS OR IS IT SIMPLY ARROGANCE?

Given the way Danneels is now seen as a symbol of the abuse crisis, Francis and his team had to be aware of the risk of blowback for praising him - and, clearly, the pope did it anyway. --John Allen of Crux

Cardinal Godfried Danneels, 85, retired archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, Belgium, died March 14, 2019, in Mechelen. He is pictured leaving a session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican in this Oct. 9, 2014, file photo. (Credit: CNS photo/Paul Haring.)

Pope Francis supported Bishop Juan Barros of Chile until he simply couldn't support him any longer after one gaff after another brought about the intervention of Cardinal O'Malley.

Pope Francis promoted a protege and good friend of his in South America to bishop in Argentina as his first papal appointment of a bishop. He was corrupt, removed from his post and given a created cushy job by Pope Francis in the Vatican. He has serious allegation of sexual and financial misconduct lodged against him. He was removed from his Vatican position but found himself on retreat with the pope this week, a retreat for the curia by the way.

And then there is Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Blegium who was extoled by Pope Francis after his death yesterday and helped to get Pope Francis elected. Pope Francis also invited him to participate in the Synod on the Family.

There are exaggerated reports of his malfeasance as a cardinal but evidently progressives give him a pass because he's a nice guy and well, a progressive.

What isn't disputed are these facts as reported by the great Vaticanist, Edward Pentin:


Leaked audio recordings revealed the Belgian cardinal urging the victim in that case not to make public that his abuser was the victim’s own uncle, Bishop Roger Vangheluwe of Bruges, and pressuring the young man not to force Bishop Vangheluwe to resign, which he did in 2010.

The cardinal’s spokesman said at the time that “there was no intention of any cover-up” and the recording had been taken out of context. But even if there was never a policy of cover-up, commentators criticized Cardinal Danneels for keeping Bishop Vangheluwe’s admission of guilt to himself, failing to convince his brother bishop to resign immediately, and for never involving a commission for protection of minors or his successor.
 
Although regarded by his supporters as a “man of consensus,” Cardinal Danneels’ critics accused him of being a plotter who surprised many by openly admitting in 2015 to being part of what he called a “mafia” group, organized in the Swiss city of Sankt Gallen, to thwart Pope Benedict XVI’s election 10 years earlier.

The “Sankt Gallen group” wanted a drastic reform of the Church, to make it “much more modern,” and for Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio to head it, Cardinal Danneels said in 2015.

The group, which also comprised German Cardinal Walter Kasper, the late Jesuit Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, and the late English Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, was fundamentally opposed to Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae, among other teachings, and “did everything it could, legally and illegally,” to prevent Cardinal Ratzinger’s election in 2005, according to German author Paul Badde. 

Although the group had formally disbanded by 2013, its members, including Cardinal Danneels, are believed to have exerted influence to ensure Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected during that year’s conclave. He is one of a select group of cardinals pictured standing next to Francis on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of the election. 

Cardinal Danneels is credited for the idea of having a select group of cardinals advise the Pope on Church reform, something which later became the Council of Cardinals, originally made up of nine members but now six. 

The cardinal was also well known for holding a number of positions that placed him at odds with definitive Church teaching. He refused to forbid pornographic “educational” materials being used in Belgian Catholic schools, and he once said same-sex “marriage” was a “positive development,” although he sought to distinguish such a union from the Church’s understanding of marriage. He also advocated for condom use to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. (as did Pope Benedict, btw)