The recent public removal of Roger Cardinal Mahoney by Archbishop Gomez of Los Angeles, and the on-going investigation of the Cardinal by the LA police could see the Cardinal being arrested possibly on or after February 23rd (the date set for the Cardinal to appear in court). The Cardinal, presently, is eligible to vote in the up-coming Conclave - and has said that he is eager to be in Rome to vote. The question now becomes: is there enough evidence against the Cardinal (it would seem that there is), and if so, will the police move quickly enough before the man leaves the United States for Rome?
There was an old rule that if a Cardinal was infirm and could not make it into the conclave hall, three Cardinal would visit him to retrieve his vote. If that has not changed at least it is impractical. Of course, that may have only been for infirmity not imprisonment. Perhaps the LA District Attorney can do us all a favour?
ReplyDeleteThe only acceptable solution would be for Mahoney to recuse himself. Interference of civil authorities in the election of a pope is a very dangerous precedent. What if the Polish government had refused to allow Karol Wojtyla to attend the conclave on some trumped up charge? We already have a Chinese government which refuses travel permits for bishops to attend the synod.
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