The Catholic Church has defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick over sexual abuse allegations stretching back decades. McCarrick resigned as a Cardinal in July.
The Washington Post reports: ‘It is the most significant abuse-related punishment given to a onetime cardinal in the modern history of the Roman Catholic Church. In a short statement, the Vatican said a canonical process had found McCarrick guilty of two charges: soliciting sex during Confession, and committing “sins” with minors and adults, “with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power.” The defrocking, which strips McCarrick of the rights of the priesthood, marks the conclusion of a closed-door Vatican proceeding and comes just days before Pope Francis plans to gather bishops from around the world for an unprecedented summit on abuse.’
Read the Vatican statement here.
The NYT reported in July: “Cardinal McCarrick, a prominent Roman Catholic voice in international and public policy, was removed from public ministry on June 20, after an investigation found credible accusations that he had sexually abused a teenager 47 years ago while serving as a priest in New York. Cardinal McCarrick, now 88, said in a statement at the time that he was innocent. Subsequent interviews by The New York Times revealed that some in the church hierarchy had known for decades about accusations that he had preyed on several men who wanted to become priests, sexually harassing and touching them.
