Vatican Theodore McCarrick Report
In a long awaited act of transparency, fulfilling a commitment from Pope Francis, the Vatican has today published a report based on a two-year internal investigationinto the career of former cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick. The report reveals hitherto top-secret information that explains how and why McCarrick, who abused minors and young adults, rose to become a leading figure in the Catholic Church in the United States.
According to the report’s executive summary, Vatican authorities, the U.S. bishops conference and the apostolic nuncio to the United States had heard scattered allegations about misconduct by McCarrick—some U.S. church leaders even received an anonymous report alleging his abuse of a minor—but discounted them because their sources were considered unreliable. Advised by the nuncio that there was no proof to back up misconduct allegations, John Paul II accepted McCarrick’s complete denial of wrongdoing when making the decision to appoint him as archbishop of Washington.