Cardinal McCarrick is removed from ministry
WASHINGTON » Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, was removed from ministry Wednesday, when church officials announced that he has been credibly accused of sexually abusing a teenager — and that he had faced three earlier allegations of sexual misconduct with adults.
McCarrick, 87, is one of the highest-profile Catholic leaders to face the accusations of sexual impropriety that have dogged the church for more than 15 years, since McCarrick was the archbishop of Washington. His removal Wednesday was particularly shocking to many in the Washington Catholic community, since McCarrick himself helped shape many of the church’s policies for responding to the sexual abuse crisis.
The new accusation that prompted the church to remove him from ministry involves a teenager he allegedly abused almost 50 years ago, while he was a priest in New York. Additionally, Newark’s archbishop, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, and Metuchen’s bishop, James Checchio, said on Wednesday that McCarrick faced earlier allegations of sexual misconduct — with adults, not minors — that he committed when he was the leader of those dioceses decades ago. Two of the three allegations led to settlements, they said.
In a statement, McCarrick said that he learned months ago about the teenager’s allegation of abuse that was first made public Wednesday, and he has “absolutely no recollection of this reported abuse.” While maintaining his innocence, he wrote, “In obedience I accept the decision of The Holy See, that I no longer exercise any public ministry.”
The cardinal, who served as archbishop of Washington from 2001 to 2006, is the highest U.S. Catholic official accused of sexual abuse since Chicago’s Cardinal Joseph Bernardin was accused in 1993, according to several sources. Bernardin’s accuser withdrew his allegations the next year, saying the memories that occurred under hypnosis were “unreliable.”
Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, said Wednesday that the allegation against McCarrick came to light in 2017 through the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, which was set up by the archdiocese to offer compensation for victims of abuse in the church.