The importance of not challenging church teaching is seen in the contrast of two gay-priest scandals of the Francis pontificate. These facts were concealed from Pope Francis, who in 2013 appointed Monsignor Ricca to a position of oversight at the Vatican Bank. Both Monsignor Ricca and Monsignor Charamsa had sinned, but only one had stepped out of line. Francis defended Monsignor Ricca by distinguishing between sins and crimes: “They are not crimes, right? Corrupt as this situation is, many Catholic leaders prefer it to the coming civil war.

Source: New York Times August 27, 2018 15:22 UTC