Reproduction of material from this website without written permission, or unlicensed commercial use or The Archdiocese of Washington parsed Wuerl's previous denials, saying he was referring to sexual abuse of minors, not adults. ", Analysis by Daniel Burke, CNN Religion Editor, (TM and Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. It was that he lost the confidence of his priests that led to todays resignation. But on the Tuesday before Fridays Mass, Cardinal Wuerl wrote to the priests of Washington explaining that when he had repeatedly denied that he had even heard rumors about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, he had not intended to be imprecise, but had simply forgotten that he had reported allegations against the cardinal to the apostolic nunciature in 2004. While the United States is just a slice of the overall church, the McCarrick questions are clearly on a lot of minds. Individuals, many are saying, not policies create and sustain that culture, and it is they that need systemic change - beginning with Wuerl. With its identity firmly rooted in the person of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church's mission to . "He was seen as somebody who was absolutely on the rise," said Rodgers. Liberals counter that there is no known connection between homosexuality and pedophilia. He said nothing prevented Wuerl from acknowledging that he knew about an accusation against McCarrick while keeping Ciolek's name confidential. CNA also discovered that, even after Wuerl had first been informed of the New York allegation against McCarrick in 2017, he declined to warn the religious order providing McCarrick with seminarians to serve as his personal staff - much to their frequent discomfort. It may be that the priests of Washington, after Pennsylvania, after McCarrick, were just tired of a culture that was less than forthright. That denial was widely met with disbelief. Cafardi, who was serving as the Pittsburgh diocese's general counsel when Wuerl was appointed, and continued in the job for several months before moving to Duquesne, praised the way the new bishop consulted with laity in merging or closing more than 100 parishes. Given his severely compromised history on covering up sexual abuse, there were immediate objections that Cardinal Mahonys presence would not ennoble the festivities, but, rather, serve as an embarrassment. Ciolek had shared what he said he'd experienced at McCarrick's hands -- inappropriate sexual contact -- and Wuerl had shared that information with the Vatican. McCarrick, who now lives cloistered in a friary in Kansas, has not commented on the accusations about his improper conduct with seminarians and young priests. This was a surprise to some, since Wuerl has denied for months that he had ever heard even rumors about McCarrick's alleged sexual behavior. In some cases, they removed the priests from ministry, sent them to rehab facilities, prevented them from working with children and appealed to the Vatican to laicize, or defrock, abusers. According to media reports and new sources, Cardinal Angelo Becciu and Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi have been key players in a complicated series of transactions that financed the Vatican. The cardinal responded, on camera, that he had never even heard rumors about his predecessor. While the Pittsburgh Catholic article did not reference Cipolla by name in its defense of Wuerl's actions regarding Zirwas, it said the bishop waited to remove Zirwas from ministry because he was "fighting the Vatican courts for the right to remove a priest against his will in a case that had better evidence against the priest.". A culture of clerical mendacity can take hold in which violations of the Eighth Commandment no longer have the power to shock and are treated as routine. He was imprisoned from 1990-92, and then laicized after his release. Archdiocese Gives Disgraced Cardinal Wuerl Millions From Donations C onsider what we know, and what has been alleged, about Pope Francis,. After months of repeated and increasingly narrow denials, news that Wuerl forwarded 14 years ago a direct accusation against McCarrick to Rome is seen nearly everywhere as the final blow to the cardinal's credibility. Pope Francis accepted the offer Friday, but asked Wuerl to stay on temporarily until a replacement is found and. His tone shifted after it was discovered that he had known for more than a decade that McCarrick was accused of sexual improprieties with seminarians. Or speaking in a manner, while technically truthful, that is aimed more at obscuring rather than revealing. ", "While one may interpret my statement in a different context," he wrote, "the discussion around and adjudication of Archbishop McCarrick's behavior concern his abuse of minors.". Pittsburgh Catholic, the diocese's newspaper, said in an Aug. 24 article after release of the report that when the diocese received the 1991 request about Paone "no one on the diocesan staff remembered Paone or knew of the report of sexual abuse. And when clerical culture accommodates itself to routine violations of the Eighth Commandment, matters violating the Seventh Commandment embezzlement, fraud, theft and the Sixth Commandment failing in chastity of all kinds, including sexual abuse are not far behind. Of this, I am proud and thank you.". ", Zubik said that as the boards offered their recommendations, they also acknowledged the contributions that Cardinal Wuerl has made to Catholic education in the Diocese of Pittsburgh.. 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. He never was.". As the report itself states, some "men of God" -- namely high-ranking vicars and bishops -- did not, at all times, in all instances, try to hide the crimes of pedophile priests. Report: Cardinal Wuerl Issues Apology, Says He 'Forgot He - CBS News STORY: Cardinal Donald Wuerl, former Pittsburgh bishop, defends himself from grand jury report, On Monday morning, it was discovered that the sign outside the high school was vandalized. His time as bishop of Pittsburgh was subject to examination in the grand jury report, and what he knew about his predecessor in Washington, Cardinal McCarrick, led to many uncomfortable questions. In 2008, when Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States, it would have been customary for those American cardinals resident in Rome to accompany him on the visit. ", Nicholas Cafardi, an original member and chair of the U.S. bishops' National Review Board, set up in 2002 to monitor the prelates' procedures to protect children, called Wuerl's resignation "an undeserved end to a really fine churchman, a fine bishop. Voters in Ohio are facing crucial referendums on Aug. 8 and Nov. 7 that could broadly enshrine the sexual revolution into state law. Wuerl told priests this weekend that his words were being placed in a "different context" than one in which he said them. And Wuerl remains on two of the Catholic Church's most powerful bodies, the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which reviews allegations of clergy sexual abuse. Wuerl, Keehan said, is "committed to the church and so, in this and in other things, he will do what seems to be best for the church. "That's always been foremost in his mind.". Keehan, who has previously served on the board the Saint Luke Institute, said she hoped Wuerl's actions would be evaluated with consideration of "where psychiatry, law enforcement, and the church was in the 80s and not where we are in 2018. Cafardi likewise said that Wuerl acted in the four cases according to the best knowledge of the time. "That by basically refusing to accept this verdict from the Vatican's highest court and insisting that they take it back and rehear it, he really offended some people in John Paul's inner circle. For the last six months, Cardinal Donald Wuerl has managed to keep his head above water amid dogged and persistent criticism of his leadership. And he's being judged now in 2018 by what we know now in 2018 for what he did thirty years ago.". "It's very hurtful to me as a victim when he dismisses the accusations against Cardinal McCarrick as 'rumors.' "I have to wonder: is this not part of the agenda of the rightwing crowd that is out to end the Holy Father?" Wuerl has denied mishandling the cases. His recent actions reveal a stunning shift in strategy from control, to denial, to complete silence. ", STORY: North Catholic HS sign vandalized amid pressure to remove Cardinal Wuerls name. Cardinal Rigali retired quietly to Knoxville, Tennessee, and is not often seen on prominent occasions. Parishioner shouts 'Shame On You!' at Cardinal Donald Wuerl - FOX 5 DC "But he recognized real problems and chose to act decisively.". He instinctively avoided encounters with his flock and priests, unless they served some immediate interest or enjoyed riches and power. Wuerl was unusually emotive in an Aug. 30 letter to his archdiocesan priests, asking them "forgiveness for my errors in judgment, for my inadequacies, and also for your acceptance of my contrition for any suffering I have caused.". Abuse survivors angry over Pope's praise for fallen cardinal Sign-up for E-NewsletterGet Register Updates sent daily or weeklyto your inbox. He is now being battered by people who know nothing about him, but just want to get the biggest scalp they can find, and that would be the Archbishop of Washington. Washington Catholics are saying they want a bishop with the courage to make decisions rooted in truth and justice, not policy and procedure, and one with the mind and heart to explain those decisions patiently, and without reservation, to a world which may not understand or accept them. Of this, I am proud and thank you," the pope wrote in October. When you subscribe to the CNA UPDATE, we'll send you a daily email with links to the news you need and, occasionally, breaking news. During the 2018 U.S. bishops' conference meeting in Baltimore last November, Wuerl spoke from the floor, recalling that in 2002 St. John Paul II invited the U.S. bishops to begin "a time of profound purification, not just personal but institutional.". Priests, in fact, have much experience of their bishops not telling the whole truth. That's hard to do.". Calling Wuerl a "great defender" of Francis, the journalist also said his leaving the scene would be a loss for those enthusiastic about the pope's vision for the church. But it is the new reality, and Americans are getting quite a bit of practice. COMMENTARY: Whatever report the Secretariat of State will produce is now the key to whether the archbishops questions are resolved, or become even more contested. said the healthcare professional. In a letter to his priests three days beforehand, Wuerl announced he would be coming to Rome to meet with Francis "so that this archdiocesan church we all love can move forward.". 2023 Cox Media Group. Cardinal Wuerl, despite stepping down due to abuse scandal, presides Pittsburgh native Cardinal Wuerl set to retire from Vatican roles "Transparency on the level of a diocese but [also] transparency on the level of all of us working together: I think that is going to be a very significant factor," he said. Cardinal Donald Wuerl at the Basilica of the National Shrine in 2014. Petition begun to remove Cardinal Wuerl's name from North Catholic High School, an online petition was started to have Wuerl's name removed from the school, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, former Pittsburgh bishop, defends himself from grand jury report, the sign outside the high school was vandalized, North Catholic HS sign vandalized amid pressure to remove Cardinal Wuerls name, Woman dead after car crash in Finleyville, Miami-Dade police chief shoots himself after domestic dispute, officials say, Man charged after allegedly planning car meets around Pittsburgh area for social media content, Fire caused by catastrophic failure of reactor on Brunot Island, officials say, Carlee Russell admits abduction, baby on Alabama interstate was hoax. As part of this free service you may receive occasional offers from us at EWTN News and EWTN. Wuerl resigns, ending influential tenure in wake of abuse report Biography of Cardinal Donald Wuerl - Catholic Standard It is likely that he will never be seen again, not even at his funeral. In . Johnson would later reveal that the statement came about without prior discussion with her, in violation of the bishops' own 1989 guidelines on handling disputes between bishops and theologians, which specify that theologians facing scrutiny are to be given an opportunity to explain their work. He has not been very prominent in the United States since. Washington D.C., Mar 4, 2021 / 17:32 pm Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop emeritus of Washington DC who stepped down in 2018 amid scandal, received over $2 million from the archdiocese last. When Cardinal Wuerl traveled to Rome to meet with Pope Francis in August about his future, the Holy Father told him to return home and consult with his priests. The diocesan website was quickly scrubbed of the original announcement, and Cardinal Mahony quickly disappeared. "However, your nobility has led you not to choose this way of defense. It generated the unpleasant reaction expected. The officials say the report also does not give an adequate sense of Catholic leaders learning to grapple with the issue of sexual abuse at a time when the Vatican was not issuing clear directives, and incorrectly saw abusive priests as aberrations. At that time, the move was widely understood as a response to the cumulative weight of scandal following the McCarrick revelations and the July release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report on clerical sexual abuse, in which he was named more than 200 times. The effect of his denials seems to be that his entire life of ministry is now being evaluated in a "different context" than the one he would have preferred. Who, in addition to Wuerl, knew about Ciolek's accusations, and what is their future in the church? "He was respected I think by both Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives. The future cardinal, the report notes, traveled to Rome to argue against Cipolla's reinstatement, leading the Signatura to reverse itself in 1995. "His actions related to reorganization and clergy discipline struck some folks as extreme, because they were unprecedented," said Aquilina. On Friday, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the head of the Archdiocese of Washington. DC Cardinal Donald Wuerl Is Entangled in 2 Sex Abuse Scandals Wuerl is the Archdiocese of Washington's apostolic administrator, essentially a placeholder for his own successor. Already making a name for himself as a theologian, in 1976 Wuerl co-authored The Teaching of Christ, an adult catechism that would remain one of the leading sources of church teaching in English until the official Catechism of the Catholic Church was introduced in 1992. (CNS photo/Paul Haring), "[The allegation] that he did not properly deal with child sexual abuse just isn't the case," said Cafardi. CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. Cardinal Donald Wuerl's name will be removed from North Catholic High School after calls for the name change following the release of the grand jury report on priest sexual abuse. When Archbishop Carlo Vigan wrote that Cardinal Wuerl lies shamelessly in his testimony published in late August, it confirmed conclusions that many Washington priests had already arrived at. Sometimes the small ones yield bigger mysteries. In this way, there should be no distraction from the great success of the school and, most importantly, the reason for the school -- the students, Wuerl wrote. "He's faulted in the grand jury report for using the treatment model, which is what a lot of bishops were doing in the 80s through the 90s," said the lawyer. Date Age Event Title; 12 Nov 1940: Born: 17 Dec 1966: 26.0: Ordained Priest: Priest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA: 30 Nov 1985: 45.0: Appointed: Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle, Washington, USA: Last week, while this news was breaking, Gallup released a poll showing that less than a third of Catholics in the United States have high opinions of clergy's honesty and ethics, a drop of 18 percentage points in the last year. Pope Accepts Wuerl's Resignation as Washington Archbishop, but Calls Cardinal Wuerl's Embassy Row Penthouse - The American Spectator "But he was here for 18. He resigned as prefect, but was immediately installed in a new senior position created for him in the same communications department, that of assessor a sort of deputy to the prefect. How deep can the culture of clerical mendacity go? CNA reported last week that in 2004 Wuerl was made aware of an allegation that Archbishop Theodore McCarrick had engaged in inappropriate behavior with seminarians. COMMENTARY: His resignation Oct. 12 was due more than anything else to the fact that his priests didnt believe he was telling the truth about Archbishop Theodore McCarrick. "The cardinal stands by those statements, which were not intended to be imprecise," the archdiocese said. The Knights are about the friendliest audience imaginable for a cardinal, but Cardinal Farrell quickly disappeared. "Basically, this situation has been used by other people for their own political agendas," she continued. Yet the resignation might serve another purpose too, that of cleansing the culture of the clergy of one of its most serious vices, the failure to tell the truth. Learn more. "But in Washington, one of the things I have loved from the first day I arrived there was the challenge of working with a church that is trying to live the Gospel in probably the most complex diocese in the country.". "He was somebody who worked really hard on reform and yet is being blamed for the slowness of some of those reforms.". monetization of National Catholic Register RSS feeds is strictly prohibited. That was met with considerable skepticism, and even those who believed Cardinal Farrell to be telling the truth conceded that it demonstrated a rather troubling lack of curiosity on Cardinal Farrells part. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the apostolic administrator of Washington, was not the main celebrant at the largest Mass on the calendar of the archdiocese, the Mass for Life, held on the morning of the March for Life at an arena where some 20,000 young people gathered. ", Cafardi, a civil and canon lawyer from Pittsburgh who has known Wuerl since they lived in Rome at the same time in the 1970s, said that in his view the cardinal "never failed to react to a complaint of child sexual abuse.". The mid-August release of its report came as Wuerl was already under scrutiny for his handling of abuse cases after the Vatican in June removed McCarrick, now 88, from ministry when an allegation of abuse of a minor was found credible. (CNN/KDKA) -- Last summer, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington twice denied hearing any accusations about sexual misconduct by his predecessor, ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. [Joshua J. McElwee is NCR Vatican correspondent. The Catholic Sex-Abuse Scandal Takes Down a Cardinal - The Atlantic With rumors -- especially old rumors going back 30, 40, even 50 years -- there is not much we can do unless people come forward to share what they know or what they experienced.". How to Reverently Dispose of Broken Blessed Objects, St. John Boscos Prayer to the Virgin Mary Against Demonic Spirits, and More Great Links! Frank Walker of Stumbling Block interviews Reporter George Neumayr . At least in the United States, the Pope's answers to those questions could overshadow his unprecedented meeting in February, at which some 150 bishops from around the world are expected to debate and approve measures to address clergy sexual abuse. We provide news about the Church and the world, as seen through the teachings of the Catholic Church. SCAPEGOATING CARDINAL WUERL - Catholic League Cardinal Donald Wuerl - Latest news - Catholic News Agency The former newspaper editor, who is co-author with Rodgers of a 2015 biography of Wuerl, titled Something More Pastoral, also said the bishop was never seen by people in Pittsburgh to be looking to be appointed to another, more prominent, city. It was not his record in Pittsburgh, where he served as bishop from 1988-2006. There were cases, early in his time in Pittsburgh, that were not handled as they would have been after the Dallas Charter of 2002. Now, according to The Washington Post, Wuerl has issued a letter of apology to priests in the Archdiocese of Washington. Cardinal Wuerl - Latest news - Catholic News Agency "And I think there he felt he couldn't undercut Weinandy, and he probably should have. "They accepted the fact that treatment was a possibility. Hunthausen, who had been subject to a Vatican investigation over alleged doctrinal issues, was not informed that Wuerl had been given special faculties over several areas of leadership in Seattle. According to 2020 data from Statista, Catholics constitute 38.1% of the population while various evangelical denominations make up a total of 42.1%. In a letter to Washington priests sent Saturday, Wuerl said that when he "stated publicly that I was never aware of any such allegation or rumors [about McCarrick]," his denial "was in the context of the charges of sexual abuse of minors, which at the time was the focus of discussion and media attention. Ciolek, now an attorney in New Jersey, scoffs at that idea. In the letter, released by the Washington archdiocese, the pontiff tells the cardinal he saw in the request to resign "the heart of the shepherd" and asks Wuerl to remain on as Washington's apostolic administrator, pending appointment of his successor. Wuerl's denials also demonstrate why so many American Catholics, according to a recent Gallup survey, have lost faith in their church and clergy. ), First published on January 16, 2019 / 1:55 PM. Cardinal Donald Wuerl blesses Benilda Tiongco as she enters the Cathedral of St. Matthew in Washington D.C. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images file Print Sept. 20, 2018, 9:57 PM UTC / Updated Oct. 12 . 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Vigano charged that McCarrick had been ordered out of the seminary where he lived, and that Wuerl was well aware of both his predecessor's situation and of Rome's efforts to curtail his ministry. In an Oct. 12 statement, released shortly after the Vatican's announcement of his resignation, Wuerl expressed contrition anew. (CNS photo/Jaclyn Lippelmann, Catholic Standard), Send your thoughts to Letters to the Editor. ", "Everybody thought he was going to spend five years here and go to some place that was a cardinalatial see," she continued. While the short Oct. 12 note from the Vatican press office announcing the move did not explain the reasons behind the pontiff's decision, a separate letter to the cardinal from Francis portrayed it as a reluctant one, made at Wuerl's insistence. According to 2020 data from Statista, Catholics constitute 38.1% of the population while various evangelical denominations make up a total of 42.1%. Heres a Map, Pope Francis Meets with Head of World Health Organization, Pope Francis Celebrates World Day For Grandparents and the Elderly, The Lebanese Saint Who Unites Christians and Muslims. Why was McCarrick allowed to serve as archbishop of Washington, one of the church's most powerful posts, for two more years?
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