Pope accepts resignation of McCarrick after sex abuse claims

In a move seen as unprecedented, Pope Francis has effectively stripped U. S. prelate Theodore McCarrick of his cardinal’s title following allegations of sexual abuse, including one involving an 11- year- old boy. The Vatican announced Saturday that Francis ordered McCarrick to conduct a “life of prayer and penance” before a church trial is held.

Breaking with past practice, Francis decided to act swiftly on the resignation offered by the emeritus archbishop of Washington, D. C., even before the accusations are investigated by church officials. McCarrick was previously one of the highest, most visible Catholic church officials in the United States and was heavily involved in the church’s yearslong response to allegations of priestly abuse there.

Francis received McCarrick’s letter offering to resign from the College of Cardinals on Friday evening, after a spate of allega- tions that the 88- year- old prelate had for years sexually abused boys and had sexual misconduct with adult seminarians.

The pope then ordered McCarrick’s “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,” the Vatican said.