It is impossible to overstate the tone-deafness of America’s Catholic bishops in recent years. They seem determined to give the Catholic Church a black eye. The Theodore McCarrick scandal — he was a prominent cardinal in Washington, D.C., who preyed on boys, seminarians, and priests in plain sight for decades — marks one of the lowest points in the history of the Church. In light of that, wouldn’t the bishops want to avoid any and all associations with McCarrick’s memory? Moreover, is it really too much for the faithful to expect his cronies and protégés (whom McCarrick called his “nephews”) to disappear from positions of power?

Apparently, that is too much to expect from the pitiful bishops and derelict Vatican. Almost all of McCarrick’s “nephews” continue to enjoy substantial influence in the Church. Two of the cardinals closest to McCarrick, Blase Cupich in Chicago and Joseph Tobin in Newark, serve as America’s chief bishop-makers on a Vatican board. …