CARDINAL MCCARRICK: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Now that Cardinal McCarrick has been suspended from public ministry for allegedly having sexually abuse a minor decades ago, the question is what happens next?

Let me try to explain what may appear to be a complex legal process the Church employs in cases when a Bishop and in the extremely uncommon case when a Cardinal has been accused of sexual abuse of a minor or the sexual assault of an adult.

Canon Law mandates a specific legal process which is to be diligently observed.  As the process runs its course, the accused is given every opportunity as well as the means to defend himself and assert his innocence.

Since His Eminence belongs to the College of Cardinals, Canon Law mandates that the Pope alone exercises the right to judge in matters related to penal law.

According to a statement from the Archdiocese of Washington, Pope Francis delegated Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York to conduct at least the initial stages of the investigation, which have now been concluded.

Given the fact that Cardinal McCarrick responded to that process by issuing a statement in which he maintains his innocence, but accepts the conclusions of the review board, it is possible and very likely that, at age 87, Cardinal McCarrick will not face a trial or an extrajudicial process.

Certainly, for Pope Francis, this scandal could not have come forward at a more challenging moment in his Pontificate. 

Following the debacle of his bumbled handling of the scandals in Chile, the Holy Father must be aware that what he decides to do regarding Cardinal McCarrick will be under intense scrutiny and needs be beyond question or doubt.

In the only other case involving a Cardinal, that of Cardinal Keith O’Brien in Scotland, Pope Francis accepted the disgraced Prelate’s resignation of the rights, privileges and benefits of being a Cardinal. 

Sadly, Cardinal O’Brien died having sullied his reputation as well as the dignity of the Church itself.

I presume the same fate awaits Cardinal McCarrick.  

Soon, I think, the Cardinal will offer his resignation from the College of Cardinals.  Pope Francis will attempt to quietly receive it.  The Holy See will issue a terse bulletin announcing such and say nothing further in the hope that the matter will dissipate relatively quickly and any further crisis avoided.

The Church will suffer yet another serious blow to its dignity and the Body of Christ be wounded yet again.

And people of good faith will wonder about and question their allegiance to the Church whose moral authority and credibility has been so critically undermined.

Another sad chapter in the history of the Church in our time.

Come, Holy Spirit, come!