Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., has done the right thing in announcing that he will ask Pope Francis to accept his resignation, which he submitted three years ago when he reached 75, the age at which all Catholic bishops submit their resignations.
The Cardinal has been under intense pressure to resign ever since the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report was released in August, in which he was criticized for his handling of abusive priests while he was bishop of Pittsburgh (1988-2006).
He is the first U.S. Cardinal to resign his Archdiocese as a result of the abuse crisis since Cardinal Bernard Law did so in 2002 for his failure to deal with abusive priests in Boston.
The Cardinal’s Episcopal career began in controversy. Now it ends in controversy.
His first Episcopal appointment was in 1986 as an Auxiliary Bishop in Seattle where the Vatican wanted him to be a check on the liberal Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen. Bishop Wuerl was soon transferred to his home Diocese of Pittsburgh when his position in Seattle became untenable.
The Grand Jury Report showed that he returned some Priests to ministry on the recommendation of psychologists who said that after treatment they were safe for ministry. And when he notified the police or other Bishops about a Priest, he did not always give them all the information he had.
In asking the Pope to accept his resignation, Cardinal Wuerl has done what scores of Bishops should have done decades ago and need to do today.
The Cardinal has provided an example of what the healing process for the Church will entail of Bishops.
The Holy Father now needs to provide like example by quickly accepting His Eminence’s resignation.
We shall see if a spirit of righteousness and integrity will rule the day or not.
No comments:
Post a Comment