Holy See Press Office issues
statement on ex-cardinal McCarrick case
 |
| Ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. |
Pope Francis instructs the Holy See Press Office to release
the following statement concerning the Vatican's response to allegations of
sexual misconduct on the part of former cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Here is
the full text of the press statement:
After the publication of the accusations regarding the
conduct of Archbishop Theodore Edgar McCarrick, the Holy Father Pope Francis,
aware of and concerned by the confusion that these accusations are causing in
the conscience of the faithful, has established that the following be
communicated:
In September 2017, the Archdiocese of New York notified the
Holy See that a man had accused former Cardinal McCarrick of having abused him
in the 1970s. The Holy Father ordered a thorough preliminary investigation into
this, which was carried out by the Archdiocese of New York, at the conclusion
of which the relative documentation was forwarded to the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith. In the meantime, because grave indications emerged
during the course of the investigation, the Holy Father accepted the
resignation of Archbishop McCarrick from the College of Cardinals, prohibiting
him by order from exercising public ministry, and obliging him to lead a life
of prayer and penance.
The Holy See will, in due course, make known the conclusions
of the matter regarding Archbishop McCarrick. Moreover, with reference to other
accusations brought against Archbishop McCarrick, the Holy Father has decided
that information gathered during the preliminary investigation be combined with
a further thorough study of the entire documentation present in the Archives of
the Dicasteries and Offices of the Holy See regarding the former Cardinal
McCarrick, in order to ascertain all the relevant facts, to place them in their
historical context and to evaluate them objectively.
The Holy See is conscious that, from the examination of the
facts and of the circumstances, it may emerge that choices were taken that
would not be consonant with a contemporary approach to such issues. However, as
Pope Francis has said: “We will follow the path of truth wherever it
may lead” (Philadelphia, 27 September 2015). Both abuse and its
cover-up can no longer be tolerated and a different treatment for
Bishops who have committed or covered up abuse, in fact represents a form of
clericalism that is no longer acceptable.
The Holy Father Pope Francis renews his pressing invitation
to unite forces to fight against the grave scourge of abuse within and beyond
the Church, and to prevent such crimes from being committed in the future to
the harm of the most innocent and most vulnerable in society. As previously
made known, the Holy Father has convened a meeting of the Presidents of the
Bishops’ Conferences from around the world for next February, while the words
of his recent Letter to the People of God still resonate: “The only way
that we have to respond to this evil that has darkened so many lives is to
experience it as a task regarding all of us as the People of God. This
awareness of being part of a people and a shared history will enable us to
acknowledge our past sins and mistakes with a penitential openness that can
allow us to be renewed from within” (20 August 2018).
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