Pope accepts resignation of American cardinal after sex abuse claim

ONE of America’s most prominent Catholic cardinals has resigned after an allegation that he sexually abused a teenage boy almost 50 years ago.

Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, wrote to the Vatican offering his resignation on Friday. A statement from the Vatican yesterday read: “Yesterday evening the Holy Father received the letter in which Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington (USA), presented his resignation as a member of the College of Cardinals.

“Pope Francis accepted his resignation from the cardinalate and has or- dered his suspension from the exercise of any public ministry, together with the obligation to remain in a house yet to be indicated to him, for a life of prayer and penance until the accusations made against him are examined in a regular canonical trial.”

Mr McCarrick, 88, was ordained in 1958 and rose through the ranks in the archdiocese of New York before being installed as archbishop of Washington in 2001, a post he held until 2006. He is officially retired.

The allegation related to Mr McCarrick’s time in New York. He was accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old who was being measured for a new cassock, according to The New York Times. The claim was investigated for the New York archdiocese by a group of jurists, law enforcement experts, parents, psychologists and religious figures, which judged that the allegations were “credible and substantiated”. Mr McCarrick was removed from public ministry on June 20.

Mr McCarrick said in a statement at the time that he was “shocked” by the report and maintained his innocence, saying he had “no recollection of this reported abuse”. He also said he had cooperated with the investigation.

At the time, senior US church officials said they had received three allegations of McCarrick’s sexual misconduct with adults decades ago.