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He was the priest whom Meet the Press called to discuss the abuse crisis, and he participated in the funerals of William Rehnquist, Beau Biden, Ted Kennedy, and Tim Russert. And McCarrick wasn’t just influential-he was famous. He stepped down at the standard bishop retirement age of 75 but remained a prolific fundraiser and jet-setting Vatican macher. From 2001–06, at the height of his career, McCarrick served as the archbishop of Washington, D.C. He left there of his own accord after he was laicized.Last fall, God brought to Victoria an unexpected visitor: Theodore McCarrick, once the most powerful Catholic priest in America. Prior to the Dittmer facility, McCarrick had lived at Kansas friary at the Washington Archdiocese’s request. Many commentators dispute critics that say the pope and his associates knew about McCarrick’s misdeeds and proceeded with his promotion anyway, because McCarrick was a “master at gaining the trust of others, including Pope John Paul II, and then betraying that trust.” John Paul II “personally made the decision” to name McCarrick archbishop of Washington in 2000 and make him a cardinal. It said the now-disgraced former prelate was able to rise up the Catholic hierarchical structure based on personal contacts, protestations of his innocence and a lack of church officials reporting and investigating accusations made against him, according to the Vatican report on the matter. Last year, the Vatican released its own report detailing the McCarrick case.
#CARDINAL THEODORE MCCARRICK SERIES#
In 2018, the prelate resigned from the College of Cardinals after The New York Times published a series of stories detailing abuse episodes by the then-priest and bishop during assignments in New York and New Jersey, principally in the 1970s and ‘80s.Ī year later, Pope Francis laicized him after a canonical process found him guilty. McCarrick’s attorney, Barry Coburn of Washington, told the Globe: “We will look forward to addressing this issue in the courtroom.” Garabedian was portrayed by Stanley Tucci in the Academy Award-winning film “Spotlight,” which chronicled the Globe’s investigation into clergy sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston 20 and more years ago.īecause McCarrick was not a Massachusetts resident and “the statute of limitations stopped running when he left the state,” the Globe said, “he can be charged with alleged assault dating to the 1970s.” The man, whose name was not released, is represented by Mitchell Garabedian, long known as an attorney for those who have made abuse accusations against Catholic clergy. He also provided four photographs of postcards he had received from McCarrick when he was younger, and a photograph of McCarrick that predated the wedding reception in Wellesley. The Globe said that during interviews with police, the man recounted later incidents where McCarrick sexually abused him in the Boston suburbs of Arlington and Newton.
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He said McCarrick groped his genitals when they were walking around the campus, and continued his assault after the walk was over. On June 8, 1974, the alleged victim, then 16, said he was at his brother’s wedding reception at Wellesley College when McCarrick told him his father wanted the two of them to “have a talk” because the teenager was being mischievous at home and not attending church, according to the report. Christopher Connelly that was filed in court with the complaint, he said McCarrick often went on trips with the then-teenager’s family and had sexually abused him in New Jersey, New York, California and Massachusetts. The crimes for which McCarrick is charged allegedly took place in 1974, when he was a New York archdiocesan priest and secretary to Cardinal Terence Cooke of New York.Īccording to the Globe, the man told investigators that McCarrick was a family friend who began molesting him when he was a boy.Īccording to a report by Wellesley Police Det. Last year, the Jefferson County Leader, a weekly newspaper, reported the Dallas police arrested an ex-priest at the center on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child in North Texas that took place in 1989. The Vianney Renewal Center is a treatment center for Catholic clergy with sexual or other disorders.Īccording to its website, it’s a ministry coordinated by the Servants of the Paraclete, which collaborates with sponsoring diocesan and religious communities “to provide a safe and supportive environment for the rehabilitation and reconciliation of priests and religious brothers.”
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