Cardinal Bernardin: Pandora’s Box Reopens

Matt Abbott re-published on RenewAmerica.com (August 11) a twenty-year old article, originally published in the newsletter of the now-defunct group Roman Catholic Faithful. It tells the story of a now married woman called “Agnes” who in 1957 was allegedly raped by Father Joseph Bernardin (+1996) when she was 11 years old.

Agnes testified her story in a sworn deposition, in accounts to investigators, in affidavits submitted in support of others' cases, in direct statements to Bernardin, in phone calls and letters to Church officials, and in correspondence with the Vatican.

The alleged rape was part of a satanic ritual involving among others, then Charleston Bishop John Russell (+1993). Agnes was brought to the ritual by her abusive father. She first resisted Bishop Russell. Bernardin then showed kindness in order to gain her trust and then raped her. He then fed her a host in an attempt to make her swallow the “guilt of the event”.

In 1990 Agnes told her story to Malachi Martin who incorporated it in his novel Windswept House.

In 1992, Agnes passed a polygraph examination regarding the crime.

The article also mentions a former seminarian who stated that he had forced sexual contact with Bernardin and later received a cash settlement.

Under John Paul II, ultra-liberal Bernardin was the leading U.S. prelate who controlled the episcopal conference and the appointment of new bishops.

Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin called him in July "the great Joseph Bernardin" who was a "great shepherd but then, above all, he suffered so much."

Picture: Joseph Bernardin © en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA, #newsVhkiavmqnu