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March 5, 2019 | The Valley Catholic
COMMUNITY
Diocesan Statement on the Dismissal from the Clerical State (Laicization) of Theodore McCarrick
Bishop Patrick J. McGrath, Bishop
of San Jose, reacted to the news of
Theodore McCarrick’s laicization: “I’m
relieved that the Church has arrived
at a swift and just conclusion to the
canonical investigation into the very
troubling complaints against Theodore
McCarrick. I echo the sentiments of
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo (President
of the USCCB) in hopes that this rul-
ing and action by the Church brings
victims and survivors one step further
in the long process of healing.”
The dismissal of the former cardinal
and retired archbishop of Washington,
DC, Theodore McCarrick, from the
clerical state, signals the Church’s re-
solve to hold bishops accountable for
abuse or mismanagement. Involun-
tary dismissal, one of the most severe
actions under canon law, is most ap-
propriate, given the deep wounds that
McCarrick inflicted on the innocent.
Coadjutor Bishop Oscar Cantu also
weighed in: “The Church’s determina-
tion in holding bishops accountable
for abuse or mismanagement just took
an important step forward. We further
anticipate clear resolve and directions
from the meeting of the heads of na-
tional bishops conferences in Rome
later this week. The good and healing of
victims/survivors must be at the center
of our decision-making.”
Cardinal DiNardo’s Full Statement
Follows:
“The Holy See’s announcement re-
garding Theodore McCarrick is a clear
signal that abuse will not be tolerated.
No bishop, no matter how influential,
is above the law of the Church. For all
those McCarrick abused, I pray this
judgement will be one small step, among
many, toward healing. For us bishops, it
strengthens our resolve to hold ourselves
accountable to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I am grateful to Pope Francis for the
determined way he has led the Church.”
McCarrick Removed From the Priesthood after Being Found Guilty of Abuse
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis
has confirmed the removal from the
priesthood of Theodore E. McCarrick,
the 88-year-old former cardinal and
archbishop of Washington.
The Vatican announced the deci-
sion February 16, saying he was found
guilty of “solicitation in the sacrament
of confession and sins against the Sixth
Commandment with minors and with
adults, with the aggravating factor of
the abuse of power.”
A panel of the Congregation for
Doctrine of the Faith found him guilty
January 11, the Vatican said. McCarrick
appealed the decision, but the appeal
was rejected February 13 by the congre-
gation itself. McCarrick was informed
of the decision February. 15 and Pope
Francis “recognized the definitive
nature of this decision made in accord
with law,” making a further appeal
impossible.
By ordering McCarrick’s “dismissal
from the clerical state,” the decision
means that McCarrick loses all rights
and duties associated with being a
priest, cannot present himself as a
priest and is forbidden to celebrate the
sacraments, except to grant absolution
for sins to a person in imminent danger
of death.
The only church penalty that is
more severe is excommunication,
which would have banned him from
receiving the sacraments. The other
possible punishment was to sentence
him to a “life of prayer and penance,”
a penalty often imposed on elderly
clerics; the penalty is similar to house
arrest and usually includes banning
the person from public ministry, lim-
iting his interactions with others and
restricting his ability to leave the place
he is assigned to live.
McCarrick’s punishment is the
toughest meted out to a cardinal by
the Vatican in modern times.
McCarrick’s initial suspension from
ministry and removal from the College
of Cardinals in 2018 came after a man
alleged that McCarrick began sexually
abusing him in 1971 when he was a
16-year-old altar server in New York;
the Archdiocese of New York found the
allegation “credible and substantiated”
and turned the case over to the Vatican.
At that point, in June, then-Cardinal
McCarrick said he would no longer
exercise any public ministry “in obe-
dience” to the Vatican, although he
maintained he was innocent.
In late July, the pope accepted Mc-
Carrick’s resignation from the College
of Cardinals and ordered him to main-
tain “a life of prayer and penance” until
the accusation that he had sexually
abused a minor could be examined by
a Vatican court.
In the weeks that followed the ini-
CAREGIVER-ELDERCARE
tial announcement, another man came
forward claiming he was abused as a
child by McCarrick, and several former
seminarians spoke out about being
sexually harassed by the cardinal at a
beach house he had in New Jersey.
Since September, McCarrick has
been living in a Capuchin friary in
rural Kansas.
The allegations against McCarrick,
including what appeared to be years
of sexual harassment of seminarians,
also led to serious questions about who
may have known about his activities
and how he was able to rise to the level
of cardinal.
At least two former seminarians
reported the sexual misconduct of
McCarrick to their local bishops as far
back as the 1990s. The Archdiocese of
Newark and the dioceses of Metuchen
and Trenton made a settlement with
one man in 2005, and the Diocese of
Metuchen settled with the other man
in 2007.
A spokeswoman for the Diocese of
Metuchen told Catholic News Service
in August that both settlements were
reported to the Vatican nuncio in Wash-
ington. The two archbishops who held
the position of nuncio in 2004 and 2006
have since died.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano,
who served as nuncio in Washington
from 2011-2016, made headlines in
mid-August when he called for Pope
Francis to resign, claiming the pope
had known of allegations against
McCarrick and had lifted sanctions
imposed on McCarrick by now-retired
Pope Benedict XVI.
The former nuncio later clarified
that Pope Benedict issued the sanc-
tions “privately” perhaps “due to the
fact that he (McCarrick) was already
retired, maybe due to the fact that he
(Pope Benedict) was thinking he was
ready to obey.”
In an open letter to Archbishop
Vigano released in October, Cardinal
Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congrega-
tion for Bishops since 2010, said that in
2011, “I told you verbally of the situa-
tion of the bishop emeritus (McCarrick)
who was to observe certain conditions
and restrictions because of rumors
about his behavior in the past.”
Then-Cardinal McCarrick “was
strongly exhorted not to travel and not
to appear in public so as not to provoke
further rumors,” Cardinal Ouellet
said, but “it is false to present these
measures taken in his regard as ‘sanc-
tions’ decreed by Pope Benedict XVI
and annulled by Pope Francis. After
re-examining the archives, I certify that
there are no such documents signed by
either pope.”
Cardinal Ouellet’s letter was pub-
lished a few days after the Vatican is-
sued a statement saying that it would,
“in due course, make k nown the
conclusions of the matter regarding
Archbishop McCarrick.”
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