As noted in previous postings on this blogsite, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has been accused of sexually assaulting a 16 year-old altar boy in the sacristy of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in 1971. This same young man accuses then-Monsignor McCarrick of assaulting him in the sacristy restroom a year later.
On the basis of those allegations, Cardinal Timothy Dolan was appointed by Pope Francis (who alone judges penal cases involving Cardinals) to conduct a preliminary investigation. The Archdiocese of New York Review Board found the allegation against Cardinal McCarrick to be both “credible” and “substantiated.”
In response, Cardinal McCarrick issued a statement accepting the findings of the Review Board while maintaining his innocence.
Since the news of this scandal broke, several Priests have come forward and revealed the Cardinal’s widely-known undue attention and physical contact with seminarians. These same Priests reveal the nicknames used to refer to His Eminence: “Uncle Ted” and “Teddy Bear”.
Moreover, both the Archdiocese of Newark and the Diocese of Metuchen have confirmed that then-Bishop McCarrick faced previous allegations of sexual misconduct with adults, which ended in financial settlements to the victims.
These most recent revelations have already caused great scandal within each of these Dioceses and give little credence to the Cardinal’s claims of innocence.
It seems to me that some serious questions need answering.
How is that McCarrick was continually promoted from the rank of Priest to Monsignor to Bishop to Archbishop to Cardinal?
How is that McCarrick was allowed to exercise any semblance of public ministry, even after his retirement, when Church officials knew of the previous claims and financial settlements?
Who were the Diocesan officials holding positions of leadership and authority within their respective curias who turned a blind-eye to the abuse and the settlements and kept silent, all the while allowing McCarrick to rise in stature and power within the American Church?
Why did they remain silent? Was it fear of reprisal? A promise of advancement or protection?
And what about the Vatican?
Wasn’t McCarrick vetted before being promoted up the rungs of the ecclesiastical ladder?
Isn’t it interesting that a Preliminary Investigation by the local Review Board of the Archdiocese of New York could so quickly find that the allegations of the sexual abuse of the altar-boy were “credible and substantiated”. Did the Holy See never conduct a more rigorous vetting (which would have uncovered the same truths) before naming him to be a Bishop let along a member of the College of Cardinals?
Who else might have known or be expected to have known about the accusations and the settlements?
Who might have been aware of the rumors surrounding McCarrick’s penchant for the physical fondling of young boys and men preparing for the Priesthood and not brought such to the attention of Church authorities?
Certainly, questions arise about what Cardinals Dolan, Tobin and Wuerl knew about McCarrick’s past and whether they themselves raised questions or objections to the Holy See about his public ministry, even and especially after his retirement from office.
And who, at the level of the Holy See, was aware of these facts and speculations and did nothing but continue to allow McCarrick to move from promotion to promotion?
His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, abdicated the Papacy in part on account of what he called a “gay lobby”, a homosexual cabal within the halls of the Vatican which forcefully attempted to influence or thwart his decisions. The Pope simply couldn't stand the pressure any longer and retired.
In my opinion, the reality of Pope Benedict’s claim explains how McCarrick could have advanced in his career as he did.
Not only does McCarrick warrant investigation, but so do all those other Clerics associated with him throughout his career as well as those in the Vatican, especially within the Congregation for Bishops.
This is a sad and disgusting episode which need never be repeated.
I pray Pope Francis takes this opportunity to get to the bottom of this mess and throw all the scoundrels who permitted and enabled it out into the wilderness where there will be “weeping and the gnashing of teeth”.
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