Another bombshell hit the scandal-ridden Roman Catholic Church over the weekend in the form of a letter written by the Vatican’s former ambassador to the U.S., Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò. In the scathing letter, Viganò calls for the resignation of Pope Francis over allegations that he knew of the sexual abuse perpetrated by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. McCarrick had been placed under disciplinary sanctions by Pope Benedict, and yet Francis acted to repeal them, freeing McCarrick to continue his predatory ways.

Viganò blasted Francis, writing, “He knew from at least June 23, 2013 that McCarrick was a serial predator. Although he knew that he was a corrupt man, he covered for him to the bitter end; indeed, he made McCarrick’s advice his own, which was certainly not inspired by sound intentions and for love of the Church. It was only when he was forced by the report of the abuse of a minor, again on the basis of media attention, that he took action [regarding McCarrick] to save his image in the media.”

Viganò claims that he told Francis: “Holy Father, I don’t know if you know Cardinal McCarrick, but if you ask the Congregation of Bishops, there is a dossier this thick about him. He corrupted generations of seminarians and priests, and Pope Benedict ordered him to withdraw to a life of prayer and penance.”

In calling on Francis to resign, Viganò argues, “In this extremely dramatic moment for the universal Church, he must acknowledge his mistakes and, in keeping with the proclaimed principle of zero tolerance, Pope Francis must be the first to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarrick’s abuses and resign along with all of them.” He added, “Pope Francis has repeatedly asked for total transparency in the Church and for bishops and faithful to act with parrhesia. The faithful throughout the world also demand this of him in an exemplary manner. He must honestly state when he first learned about the crimes committed by McCarrick, who abused his authority with seminarians and priests.”

As we have previously noted, this scandal exposes shocking levels of corruption within the leadership of the Catholic Church. And now Viganò alleges that “the corruption has reached the very top of the Church’s hierarchy.” It may well be that Francis’s own leftist leanings, which he has regularly espoused in his public teachings, factored into his decision to reverse his predecessor’s disciplinary action against McCarrick. Recall that Benedict was a staunch conservative and traditionalist who sought to revive a number of older church practices that had fallen out of favor.

In his letter, Viganò also acknowledges the elephant in the room, writing of the “widespread” sin of homosexuality being practiced among the clergy “in many dioceses.” He calls for “a time of conversion and penance” and says, “The seriousness of homosexual behavior must be denounced. The homosexual networks present in the Church must be eradicated. … These homosexual networks, which are now widespread in many dioceses, seminaries, religious orders, etc., act under the concealment of secrecy and lies with the power of octopus tentacles, and strangle innocent victims and priestly vocations, and are strangling the entire Church.”