Sign of renewed awakedness by Pope and his men:

VATICAN CITY—The Vatican plans to try Archbishop Theodore McCarrick as early as this coming week , in order to make a final decision on his fate before next month’s Vatican summit on sex abuse, according to people familiar with the matter.

Vatican officials understand that Pope Francis wants them to act swiftly in the matter, to keep the U.S. archbishop’s fate from overshadowing the summit, scheduled for Feb. 21-24, these people say.

Clearing the decks. Good.

[McCarrick] has said he has no recollection of the incident from the 1970s and believes he is innocent. A lawyer for the archbishop declined to comment on whether he is contesting the charges.

Special handling:

Ordinarily, clerics accused of sex abuse are initially judged by local church authorities around the world, where the process can take years. Appeals are heard at the Vatican, and ordinarily take a minimum of two months.

Rush job, apparently.

While Vatican officials are firm in their plan for the McCarrick trial to take place this coming week, the pope could still choose to change the timing or decide to judge the case himself, in which case there would be no possibility of appeal. A Vatican spokesman said proceedings in the case are under way, adding: “We are awaiting the results.”

The uncertainty is disconcerting. The charges are even more so:

One charge involves the son of friends whom the future archbishop allegedly abused over a period of years beginning when the victim was 11.

The trial will also consider the charge that Archbishop McCarrick repeatedly abused another boy starting at the age of 13.

His other life also:

In addition, allegations that the archbishop sexually harassed adult seminarians and priests over a period of years will also be considered at his trial, even though the CDF ordinarily tries abuse cases involving minors only. Accusations of a bishop’s misconduct with adults are usually dealt with by the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops.

Gets complicated. CDF is Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, once known popularly as the Holy Office, or (long ago) the Inquisition, as in Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum.” Woe.