Archbishop Theodore McCarrick’s resignation from the College of Cardinals marks a turning point in the Catholic Church’s response to its long-running sexual-abuse crisis — but must be only a start.
For the church hierarchy to regain the laity’s trust, it needs to openly and clearly hold to account all the priests, bishops and perhaps even cardinals who covered for McCarrick all those years.McCarrick, now in seclusion pending clerical trial, was one of the most powerful figures in the American church, serving as Archbishop of Newark from 1986-2000 and then Archbishop of DC until he retired in 2006.
Yet he stands very credibly accused of abuse dating back to at least 1971, when he allegedly groped an altar boy in the sacristy of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Rumors have dogged him for decades, and accusations surfaced in 2006 and again in 2010.
These scandals have toppled other top figures in the US church, notably Boston Archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law — but that was for covering for abusive priests, not for actually engaging in abuse himself.
Yes, fully coming clean will bring major financial pain: Since The Boston Globe broke the first pederasty stories in 2002, the Boston Archdiocese has had to pay out $95 million-plus in legal fees to victims and parents, forcing it to close 65 parishes to stay afloat.
But this most recent black mark is the biggest yet. “Uncle Ted” McCarrick’s career spanned multiple states with hundreds of protégés and allies who likely looked the other way when victims begged for help, and in some cases enabled his corruption. For the sake of the laity and the next generation of priests, the church must fully flush out McCarrick’s web of sin.
And that’s the greatest abuse: Men tasked to be shepherds allowed the wolves to devour their own sheep.