The Cardinal McCarrick scandal raises awkward questions for Church leaders
Responding to the accusation that he fondled a 16-year-old male 47 years ago, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick said last month: “I have absolutely no recollection of this reported abuse and believe in my innocence.”
However, the Archdiocese of New York found the claim “credible and substantiated”. The Vatican told the prelate, well-known for his high-profile causes and extensive travelling, that he could no longer exercise his public ministry.
McCarrick is planning to appeal against this judgment, through the normal canonical process.
But there is more to the story. Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, where McCarrick served as bishop and archbishop from 1981 until 2000, revealed: “This Archdiocese and the Diocese of Metuchen received three allegations of sexual misconduct with adults decades ago; two of these allegations resulted in settlements.”
Judging by reports, “everyone” in certain Church circles had an inkling that there was something wrong with McCarrick’s conduct. What did members of the hierarchy know, and did they fail to act on that knowledge?
We do not yet know, but it is instructive to compare the statements put out by three serving American cardinals since the scandal broke and Cardinal McCarrick was suspended from public ministry.
Cardinal Donald Wuerl, McCarrick’s successor in Washington, insists that “no claim – credible or otherwise – has been made against Cardinal McCarrick during his time here in Washington.”
But Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York (where McCarrick allegedly abused a 16-year-old back in 1971), called it “the first such report of a violation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People ever made against him of which the archdiocese was aware”.
In the light of Tobin’s revelation, Dolan’s statement seems unhelpfully vague. The allegations relate to young priests and seminarians – not young children. So the Archdiocese of New York has not really affirmed or denied that McCarrick had been credibly accused of sexual misconduct.
What did the Vatican know? The journalist Rod Dreher has claimed that John Paul II’s staff were “warned in person, by credible Catholic laymen, and a Catholic priest in a position to know” about McCarrick’s behaviour. Yet McCarrick was still promoted from Newark to Washington, acquiring a red hat as a result.
It’s plausible that several America bishops and the Vatican were unaware of the allegations concerning the sexual assault of a teenager. However, there were many stories circulating in the Church about alleged misconduct with adults. This leaves the Church under a moral obligation to reveal who knew what, and when. But will senior figures do their best to establish the truth?
Cardinal Tobin said in his statement: “While Cardinal McCarrick maintains his innocence and the canonical process continues, we must put first the serious nature of this matter with respect and support for the process aimed at hearing victims and finding truth.” Now is the time to put these words into action.
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