Cardinal: Pontiffs knew of allegations
Ex-Vatican ambassador to U.S. says Francis, Benedict were aware of sexual misconduct claims against McCarrick
DUBLIN — A former Vatican ambassador to the United States has alleged in an 11-page letter that Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis — among other top Catholic Church officials — had been aware of sexual misconduct allegations against former Washington archbishop Cardinal Theodore McCarrick years before he resigned this summer.
The letter from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano was first reported by the National Catholic Register and LifeSite News, two conservative Catholic sites. Vigano was recalled from his D.C. post in 2016 amid allegations that he’d become embroiled in the conservative American fight against same-sex marriage. The letter offered no proof, and Vigano on Sunday told The Washington Post he wouldn’t comment further.
Asked about what had been published under his name in the Catholic outlets, Vigano said, “I confirm that it is my text and that I wrote it.”
The letter sent shock waves through the Catholic world as Francis, finishing a two-day trip in Ireland, was begging forgiveness for the “scandal and betrayal” caused by church-related abuses. Francis and other church leaders are facing a bitterly polarized Catholic Church, and some Francis critics, including Vigano, are calling for the pope to step down.
The letter was the latest dramatic development stemming from a fresh wave of allegations related to clergy sex abuse and its cover-up. Rumors that had swirled for decades about McCarrick exploded in June when Pope Francis suspended the cardinal. Last month, McCarrick became the first U.S. cardinal in history to resign.
Vigano, 77, was the Holy See’s ambassador in Washington from 2011 until 2016. He has been a lightning rod within the Vatican who lost a power struggle under Benedict, emerged as a Francis critic, and reportedly ordered the halt of an investigation into the alleged sexual relations between an archbishop in Minnesota and seminarians.
Vigano’s letter said that McCarrick had been privately sanctioned under Benedict. The warnings that Vigano describes dealt with McCarrick’s alleged behavior toward seminarians and young priests. Vigano wrote that the measures banned McCarrick from traveling, holding Mass, or participating in public meetings.
Yet McCarrick appears to have done essentially the opposite. He regularly appeared as a speaker and celebrant at church functions and represented the church in prominent foreign diplomatic efforts.
Vigano’s letter also says that in 2013, he met Francis months into his papacy and told him face to face that there was a dossier about A cardinal says that Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis were aware of sexual misconduct allegations against former archbishop Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, above, for years. McCarrick. He says he then told Francis about Benedict’s order that McCarrick remove himself from public life.
It was not possible to reach Benedict or his representatives right away. Francis has not commented previously about what he was ever told about McCarrick, and on Sunday Vatican spokesman Greg Burke did not respond to a request seeking comment.
The American Catholic Church is deeply divided over Francis’ leadership. Francis’s comments and teachings about everything from immigration to the death penalty are frequently adopted or rejected along partisan lines.
The Vigano document uses American culture-war language, such as “rightwing” and “left-wing,” and concludes the letter by blaming “homosexual networks” for sexual abuse and corruption.
In the letter, Vigano described several figures who could corroborate parts of his account. Those people could not be immediately reached.
Vigano arranged a hugely controversial meeting be- tween Francis and an American woman, Kim Davis, who had lost her job as a municipal clerk for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-gender couples. Allies of Francis alleged Vigano set up the pope during a high-profile U.S. visit, and that Francis didn’t intend to affirm Davis’ cause.
Victims and Catholics around the world have been demanding more transparency from Pope Francis and the church in general, and that clerics who covered up for priest-abusers be held accountable.