#and many of them were 1) former seminary students; 2) current priests; or 3) former priests | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

districofcolumbiaprelawland-blog · 4 years

Text

The Dark Side Of The Catholic Church

By Linh McCool, George Washington University Class of 2021

July 29, 2020

Theodore McCarrick was a respected and prominent cardinal and bishop of the Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of Archdiocese New York, bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey, Archbishop of Newark, and Archbishop of Washington, D.C. He was one of the most recognized American cardinals in the Catholic Church. McCarrick was a power broker in Washington, D.C., and had connections with various politicians. He was a very moderate and progressive man who was active in many social justice causes. [1]

Sexual Misconduct Allegations

But in the last few decades, McCarrick is being accused of participating in inappropriate sexual conduct with adult male seminarians. Evidence shows that McCarrick's allegations of sexual assault with male seminarians were made aware to American bishops and the Vatican between 1993 and 2016 but were never officially known until 2018. McCarrick engaged in sexual misconduct with at least seven minors, and his sexual abuse lasted for 50 years until being defrocked. [2]

McCarrick was accused of sexual abuse by James Grein, the first child he baptized. Grein said that McCarrick began molesting him at only 11 years old. John Bellocchio, a former Catholic school teacher, and principal claimed that McCarrick assaulted him when he was Newark's archbishop. [3]

Restrictions and Blame

In 2008, McCarrick had Vatican restrictions for sleeping with seminarians. However, he often ignored travel bans with Vatican officials like Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis were aware. There were prior Vatican restrictions on McCarrick and debated since a retired diplomat accused Pope Francis of rehabilitation McCarrick from the 2013 limits.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano accused Francis of disregarding information that McCarrick assaulted seminarians. Vigano tried to place the cover-up blame on Pope Francis and demanded that he resign. No one knows what information Pope Francis had or whether he lifted the restrictions, but emails show that McCarrick ignored them regularly during Pope Benedict's rule. McCarrick's secretary, Msgr Anthony Figueiredo, currently a priest in Newark's diocese, N.J. exposed these email excerpts.

The emails showed restrictions in writing in August 2008 that mandated McCarrick to move out of his seminary residence, and request permission from the Holy See for any future appearances or talks. McCarrick got travel permission for a trip to Rome. Then in 2012, he resumed his spontaneous traveling without the consent under Benedict. And under Francis, McCarrick traveled to China, Morocco, and Iraq. There is also evidence of McCarrick writing to Francis and the Vatican secretariat of state with updates on his meetings, potentially showing that he was an unofficial worker in the Vatican.

In an interview released on Tuesday, Pope Francis denied knowing anything about McCarrick. In the interview with Valentina Alazraki for Mexico's Televisa, he said, "I didn't know anything about McCarrick, nothing naturally, nothing." 2

Consequences

In July of 2018, McCarrick resigned from the College of Cardinals. Pope Francis investigated on McCarrick in October of 2018, which found that McCarrick sexually abused minors and adult seminarians. He was later dismissed from the clergy and defrocked by Pope Francis in February 2019 after an investigation confirmed that McCarrick sexually abused children and adults. 2McCarrick's resignation and dismissal are so pivotal because he is the most senior church official in present times to be laicized and is the first cardinal ever to be laicized for sexual abuse. 1

Present Day

On Tuesday, July 21, 2020, a lawsuit was filed against the Diocese of Metuchen and St. Francis Xavier School in Newark, NJ, and Essex Catholic in East Orange. The man went to the New Jersey Superior Court in Middlesex County and alleged he was abused by McCarrick and five other Catholic clerics in New Jersey in 1982 when he was 14 years old. The suit alleges that four of them assaulted the victim at the beach house when McCarrick was Metuchen's bishop, N.J. The boy claimed he needed money to pay for his Catholic education, and one cleric, who had sexually abused the boy before, told him to "talk to the boss," or McCarrick. McCarrick proceeded to harm the boy.[4] The victim also describes being abused at St. Francis Xavier school when he was 11 years old by Father Anthony Nardino and Essex Catholic by Brother Andrew Thomas Hewitt.

Jeff Anderson said the victims' attorney said at a virtual press conference on July 22 that "In the night, with the assistance of others, McCarrick would creep into this kid's bed and engage in criminal sexual assault of him, whispering, 'It is OK.'" McCarrick assigned sleeping arrangements to choose his victims, as well as pairing young boys with adult clerics. Anderson states that priests and others under McCarrick engaged in criminal sexual behavior, but the church kept it a secret. 3

Other accused clerics are Rev. Anthony Nardino, Brother Andrew Thomas Hewitt, Rev. Gerald Ruane, Rev. Michael Walters, and Rev. John Laferrera. The lawsuit accuses the dioceses of Metuchen and Newark and other parishes and schools within the dioceses of failing to protect children in their youth programs and other religious affairs. It claims that dioceses "should have known that it had numerous agents who had sexually molested children."

The man coming forward is leaving his name excluded from the suit. And McCarrick's attorney, Barry Coburn, declined to comment. McCarrick claims that he did nothing wrong. Metuchen and Newark's dioceses refused to comment on this lawsuit, however, claimed that they are "committed to victims, prevention, resolution, and closure." 4

Impact

The McCarrick scandal has had severe adverse effects. The scandal created a credibility crisis in the U.S., as well as the Vatican and the church. Specifically, trust issues regarding the Vatican hierarchy since it was an open secret in many church circles that McCarrick sexually assaulted young people and adults as he pressured them to sleep with him at his beach house in New Jersey. 2

There has been a surge in sexual abuse cases in the Roman Catholic church in the last few decades. With the rules enacted in 15 states that extend or suspend the statute of limitations to allow claims to stretch back decades, more sexual abuse cases have come out. These states allow sex abuse cases no matter how old include New Jersey, New York, and California. The Associated Press found that the sexual abuse crisis might obtain more than 5,000 new cases against the church in New York, New Jersey, and California alone. Thus, they are resulting in payouts surpassing $4 billion since the first clergy sex abuse case came to light in the 1980s. Many Catholic dioceses are worrying about defending old claims and considering bankruptcy. [5]

For survivors like Nancy Holling-Lonnecker of San Diego, this new rule is very motivating. Her claims were from the 1950s when she was raped by a priest in a confession booth when she was seven years old. She says, "The survivors coming forward now have been holding on to this horrific experience. They bottled up those emotions all of these years because there was no place to take it." 5

_______________________________________________________________

Linh McCool is a rising third-year student at the George Washington University. Majoring in International Affairs with a dual concentration in International Development and Contemporary Cultures & Societies. Linh is interested in the legal profession, as well as communications, marketing, and non-profit work.

_______________________________________________________________

[1]"Theodore McCarrick." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 July 2020.

[2]Associated Press. "Ex-Cardinal McCarrick and Others Ignored Sex Abuse Restrictions." Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2019.

[3]Bernstein, Brittany. "Lawsuit Claims Ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick Ran Beach House Sex Ring." National Review, National Review, 24 July 2020.

[4]Boorstein, Michelle. "New Accuser of Theodore McCarrick Alleges the Ex-Cardinal Orchestrated Abuse Involving Other Clerics." The Washington Post, WP Company, 22 July 2020.

[5]Condon, Bernard. "Surge of New Abuse Claims Threatens Church like Never Before." AP NEWS, Associated Press, 1 Dec. 2019.

Photo Credit:World Economic Forum

0 notes