FOR BISHOPS: THE MOMENT OF RECKONING HAS ARRIVED

As I predicted early on, the McCarrick scandal would mark a turning point for Bishops.

On Saturday, Pope Francis accepted McCarrick’s resignation from the College of Cardinals.  This moment, not witnessed by the Church since 1911, marks a new era:  Bishops will no longer be able to divert attention away from their failings in matters pertaining to the sexual abuse of minors.

But, in McCarrick’s case only one half of that story played out.  

McCarrick resigned (or was forced to resign) because he personally abused minors.  

The question still remained regarding the response of the Pope toward those Bishops who, while personally not guilty of sexual abuse, failed to act to protect those entrusted to their care?

That question appears to have been answered today.

The Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Australian Archbishop Philip Wilson, the most senior Catholic Church leader to be convicted in a criminal court of concealing sexual abuse. 

The turning point I predicted has come to pass.

Today marks the second time in three days that the Pope has accepted a major resignation stemming from a Bishop’s involvement in the sexual of abuse of minors.  

For the Pope and the Church long reluctant to hold those at the highest echelons of authority accountable for their criminal actions or omissions the moment has come.


Archbishop Wilson was the Adelaide Archbishop who had been found guilty in May of concealing child sex abuse during the 1970s.  He had previously refused to resign, saying he was entitled to due process and was pressing forward with an appeal. 

But Wilson’s case had become a point of widespread contention in a nation scarred by decades of sex abuse within the Church.  And earlier this month, earlier this month, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called on Francis to discipline Wilson, saying, “The time has come for the Pope to sack him.”

At the present time, two other Cardinals, Riccardo Ezzati and Francisco Errazuriz, face multiple accusations of having known about cases of sexual abuse, as well as abuses of power and conscience, and failed to act - in some cases, actively attempting to shelter the Clergy involved.

Victims, activists and outraged Chileans have all called for both men to exit the College of Cardinals too, but, at least so far, such action hasn’t been forthcoming. 

Now that McCarrick's fall from grace has come to pass, one can only assume (dangerous as that always is) that Ezzati and Errazuriz (if the charges against them are proven) will be held to the same accountability imposed upon McCarrick and Wilson.

Still, Pope Francis has yet to make a public (if not personal) commitment to establish a protocol by which Bishops are to be held accountable.

While we don’t know what private pressures the Holy Father placed upon McCarrick and Wilson to resign, publicly they were the ones who acted and not the Holy See.  

They resigned.  They were not removed.  

Some would hold it is a distinction without a difference.  I disagree.

Questions, very serious questions remain of how McCarrick’s behavior could have gone unaddressed for so long.  Who knew the history of McCarrick’s abuse and failed to insist that he be held accountable, even remaining silent as McCarrick advanced even to the point of being made a Prince of the Church?

If you listen to the reactions of the Bishops to McCarrick’s resignation, they are eager to put the disturbing and lingering questions to rest.

But the Bishops strategy to “duck and cover” is not going to work.

The secular media (especially The New York Times and the Washington Post) have latched onto this story and have been successful in raising the ire of the Catholic faithful who are now beginning to clamor publicly that all those who knew about the allegations against McCarrick and failed to act are culplable parties and must be held equally accountable.  

That list may prove to be long indeed.

July ends tomorrow.  The next General Assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) convenes November 12 through 15.

The USCCB best prepare itself for what will a most uncomfortable assembly indeed.