Pope lets ‘perv-coverup’ cardinal resign

Amid unfolding sex-abuse scandals, Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Donald Cardinal Wuerl as archbishop of Washington. But the pope’s gentle words and lack of condemnation angered those who feel top Catholic leaders continue to shirk responsibility for the global crisis.

Among those frustrated by the pope’s announcement Friday was Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who oversaw a grand jury report issued in August on rampant sex abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses. The report accused Wuerl of helping to protect some child-molesting priests while he was bishop of Pittsburgh from 1988 to 2006.

“It is unacceptable that thenBishop Wuerl . . . oversaw and participated in the systematic coverup that he did when leading the Pittsburgh Diocese and that he is now able to retire seemingly with no consequences for his actions,” Shapiro said. “We can’t rely on the church to fix itself.”

In accepting Wuerl’s resignation, Pope Francis asked him to stay on temporarily until a replacement is found and suggested he had unfairly become a scapegoat in and victim of the mounting outrage over the abuse scandal.

“You have sufficient elements to justify your actions and distinguish between what it means to cover up crimes or not to deal with problems, and to commit some mistakes,” Francis wrote to Wuerl. “However, your nobility has led you not to choose this way of defense. Of this I am proud and thank you.”