As per "How the Pope corrects wayward bishops covertly yet publicly on moral issues - Analysis,"
- "if you’re not watching closely you may miss the interventions, even though they are public....
"covert communication with faithful Catholics aware of the inside story is something seen prior to Pope Benedict’s elevation to the pontificate.
"In 2004, during the US Bishops’ deliberation on the subject of communion for pro-abortion politicians, Cardinal Ratzinger, in his capacity as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, intervened into the debate with a document called Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion - General Principles.
"The letter pointed out that obstinately pro-abortion Catholic politicians, after being duly instructed and warned, 'must' be denied Communion.
"Of note however, the head of the US Bishops’ committee looking into the matter, then-Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick did not share Ratzinger’s intervention with his brother bishops on the committee. In fact, when McCarrick did make mention of the Vatican position on the matter, he mischaracterized it....
"A couple of weeks after Cardinal McCarrick’s speech, the letter from Cardinal Ratzinger was leaked to well-known Vatican reporter Sandro Magister, who published the document in full. And then came a very surprising and tell-tale move. Cardinal Ratzinger’s office publicly confirmed the leaked document as authentic....
"Despite the efforts of certain prelates to keep from the faithful the truth, this Pope has found a means of communications which, while it preserves the innocence of those who are peacefully unaware of the scandal, lets those affected see that he indeed knows the score and is taking steps to rectify matters" (John Henry Westin, 11/30/11).
