Two prominent Cardinals of the Catholic Mission have advocated an immediate end to what they construed as “the plague of the homosexual agenda”, advising Bishops to break their complicity over cases of sexual abuse.
In an open letter, Cardinals Burke and Brandmüller noted that the church has wrongly blamed the abuse of power by the clergy as the main cause of the scandals.
Instead, they said the cases involve priests who have “gone away from the truth of the gospel”.
They also openly criticised the Pope.
Stories of sexual abuse of minors have emerged across the world and the church has been accused of covering up crimes committed by priests.
Their letter comes on the eve of an extraordinary summit of bishops in Rome called by Pope Francis as an effort to deal with the scandals rocking the church.
Cardinals Raymond Burke, from the US, and Walter Brandmüller, from Germany, reject that the cases of abuse are a result of “clericalism” – a group of men abusing their power, and protecting each other.
The cardinals belong to the traditionalist wing of the church, where many believe homosexuality is a root cause of the clerical abuse and are both outspoken critics of Pope Francis.