Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the Cardinal emeritus of Washington, D.C., known for his ultra-liberal tendencies and “progressive” political positions, has been removed from his public ministry over credible allegations of sexually abusing a minor 50 years ago.
According to LifeSiteNews, McCarrick now stands accused of having “sexually abused a minor five decades ago when he was a priest in the Archdiocese of New York.”
Despite the allegation, no sign exists of a coverup from the Diocese of Metuchen, where McCarrick served as bishop from 1982 to 1986 before being promoted. Currently, no record exists of him abusing minors there, either, though there is evidence of several incidents with adults.
In a news release, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan said that McCarrick has been barred from exercising his priestly ministry in response to the allegation.
“The review board found the allegations credible and substantiated,” Dolan’s statement said. “The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, at the direction of Pope Francis, has instructed Cardinal McCarrick that he is no longer to exercise publicly his priestly ministry.”
McCarrick said he has “no recollection” of the reported abuse while accepting his removal from public ministry.
“While I have absolutely no recollection of this reported abuse, and believe in my innocence, I am sorry for the pain the person who brought the charges has gone through, as well as for the scandal such charges cause our people,” the Cardinal said in a statement.
Cardinal McCarrick leaves behind a legacy of liberal Catholicism. He has defied Rome’s orders to bar pro-abortion politicians from receiving Holy Communion and told CNN in 2006 that he supported same-sex civil unions, in defiance of core Catholic dogma which limits marriage to one man and one woman. He claims he merely “misspoke” on the issue.
“McCarrick had also played down the abortion issue in 2009 at the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s burial when speaking about the manifestly pro-abortion and pro-gay ‘marriage’ senator’s political legacy,” reports LifeSiteNews. “McCarrick read excerpts from a letter Kennedy wrote to Pope Benedict at the burial, in which Kennedy told the pope he’d always tried to be a faithful Catholic.”
The Church’s sexual abuse crisis strongly correlates to a mid-century rise in power of ultra-liberal Bishops and Cardinals who promoted looser, watered-down interpretations of Church teachings and permitted relaxed standards for seminarians in their diocese, often marginalizing traditional, orthodox Catholics in favor of leftists who openly embraced a culture of death.