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| American Theodore McCarrick, 88, who resigned from the Vatican's College of Cardinals in July, is the first cardinal ever to be defrocked for sex abuse (AFP Photo/Johannes EISELE) |
Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis has defrocked a former cardinal in a first for the Roman Catholic church over accusations American Theodore McCarrick sexually abused a teenager 50 years ago, a Vatican statement said Saturday.
McCarrick,
88, who resigned from the Vatican's College of Cardinals in July, is the first
cardinal ever to be defrocked for sex abuse.
He was
found guilty in January by a Vatican court for sexually abusing a teenager, a
decision confirmed by the pope in February, with "no further
recourse", according to the statement.
It said
McCarrick was guilty of "sins against the Sixth Commandment with minors
and with adults, with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power".
The
announcement marks a spectacular fall from grace for the once influential
cardinal and comes ahead of a Vatican conference from February 21-24 bringing
together bishops from around the world to discuss protecting children within
the Church.
Sex abuse
scandals around the globe, and most recently in the United States and Chile,
have shaken the church, with Pope Francis promising a policy of "zero
tolerance" even for high-ranking church members.
McCarrick,
former archbishop emeritus of Washington, was barred from practising as a
priest in July last year, after which he resigned his honorary title of
cardinal. He currently lives in Kansas.
Sex with
adult seminarians
The US
Conference of Catholic Bishops reacted swiftly, saying the decision "is a
clear signal that abuse will not be tolerated".
"No
bishop, no matter how influential, is above the law of the Church,"
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the bishops conference, said in a
statement which also called for all victims of abuse to contact the police.
SNAP, a
group representing survivors of abuse by priests, suggested Saturday that the
McCarrick decision had been "'fast-tracked' by the hierarchy" in the
days before the Vatican abuse conference "because it's so damning".
The group called on Catholic officials to practise the transparency they have promised, and said in a statement that criminal charges should be filed not just against McCarrick but "against Church officials who hid his wrongdoing for decades".
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Pope
Francis has promised a policy of "zero tolerance" even for
high-ranking
church members (AFP Photo/Tiziana FABI)
|
The group called on Catholic officials to practise the transparency they have promised, and said in a statement that criminal charges should be filed not just against McCarrick but "against Church officials who hid his wrongdoing for decades".
McCarrick
was known for having sex with adult seminarians before he was accused of
sexually abusing at least one teenager.
Prosecutors
in the US state of Pennsylvania last year found 300 priests were involved in
child sexual abuse since the 1940s, crimes that were covered up by a string of
bishops.
Prosecutors
in half a dozen other US states have announced plans for similar
investigations.
The pope
accepted the resignations of several bishops in Chile last year after
investigations revealed decades of sexual abuse by clergy in their dioceses.
In March
2015, Pope Francis allowed Keith O'Brien to keep the title of cardinal after
the former bishop of Edinburgh and former leader of the Catholic church in
Scotland resigned over allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour towards
priests in the 1980s.
The only
previous case of a cardinal resigning came in 1927, when Pope Pius XI accepted
the resignation of French cardinal Louis Billot, who had himself renounced his
status for political reasons.
Cardinals
act as close papal advisors and, if aged below 80, can attend conclaves to
elect new pontiffs.
McCarrick
had been one of the most prominent American cardinals active on the
international stage.
Although
officially retired, McCarrick had continued to travel abroad regularly,
including on human rights issues.
McCarrick
was ordained a priest in 1958 and rose through the ranks in the Archdiocese of
New York before being installed as archbishop of Washington in 2001, a post he
held until 2006.
The claims
against him were made public in June by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the current
archbishop of New York.
Dolan said
an independent forensic agency "thoroughly investigated" the
allegation.
A review
board that included jurists, law enforcement experts, parents, psychologists, a
priest and a religious sister then "found the allegations credible and
substantiated," and the Vatican ordered McCarrick to stop exercising his
ministry.
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Questions
remain over Theodore McCarrick, including how he rose so high within
the Church
despite suspicions about his behaviour (AFP Photo/CHIP SOMODEVILLA)
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At the
time, he released a statement maintaining his innocence but added that he had
"fully cooperated" in the investigation.
Senior US
church officials said they had received three allegations of McCarrick's sexual
misconduct with adults decades ago, two of which resulted in settlements.
The US
Catholic website Crux quoted a man as accusing him of abuse in New York's St
Patrick's Cathedral in the 1970s, when the accuser was 16 years old.
Other
cardinals caught up in scandal include Australia's top Catholic George Pell,
number three in the Vatican. Pell faces prosecution in Australia for historical
child sexual offences, which he has denied.
Defrocking
is the most severe ecclesiastical punishment for a priest, who is reduced to
the status of a lay person and no longer allowed to lead mass.
Call for
pope to resign
Questions
nevertheless remain over McCarrick, including how he rose so high within the
Church despite suspicions about his behaviour.
Retired
Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano has accused Pope Francis of having
ignored sexual assault accusations against McCarrick for five years.
Vigano, who
is backed by an ultra-conservative US church faction, in August called for the
pope to resign over his alleged silence.
Francis
subsequently promised a fresh investigation into McCarrick, including using
Vatican archives.
McCarrick
could yet face civil suits in the US.
Related Articles:
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Pope
Francis meets with leaders from the US church at the Vatican on Thursday
to discuss
claims of sexual abuse by clergy (AFP Photo/Handout)
|
Related Articles:
Pope says Church can no longer tolerate silence on abuse
There it a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.
It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.
Australian archbishop gets 12 months for concealing child abuse
Germany's Catholic Church 'ashamed' by child sex abuse
Germany's Catholic Church 'ashamed' by child sex abuse
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Part of the painting, said to one of the highlights of the Vatican collection
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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)
“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.
There it a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.
It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.
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