Kirchenakte1992-2019 · 27 years
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The case of Theodore McCarrick (Vatican report 2020)
Theodore McCarrick rose from Bishop of Metuchen to Archbishop of Washington and cardinal, although as early as 1992 and 1993 anonymous letters accused him of abusing his "nephews" and it was known that he shared a bed with young men and seminarians. Three times a move to a larger see was considered imprudent; in 2000 Pope John Paul II appointed him nevertheless. Three of four bishops consulted gave the Vatican false or incomplete information. Under Benedict XVI there were no criminal proceedings, only a request to appear less in public. Only in 2019 was McCarrick dismissed from the clerical state for acts against minors and adults. All this is in the report that the Vatican itself published in 2020.
- Period
- 1992-2019 (27 years)
- Report published
- 10 November 2020
- Country
- Vatican City, United States
- Institutions
- Holy See
Archdioceses of Newark and Washington
Diocese of Metuchen - Category
- Sexual abuse, Cover-up
- Level of evidence
- A Primary source · what does this mean?
- Persons
- Theodore Edgar McCarrick (Bishop of Metuchen, Archbishop of Newark and Washington, cardinal; dismissed from the clerical state in 2019)
John Paul II (Pope, appointed McCarrick Archbishop of Washington in 2000)
Benedict XVI (Pope)
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What happened to the people
Who was affected? Victims and numbers
- In 1992 and 1993 anonymous letters went to the US Bishops' Conference, the pope's ambassador and several cardinals accusing McCarrick of paedophilia with his "nephews". It was also known that he shared a bed with young men and seminarians in his episcopal residences and at a beach house.
Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, Executive Summary, S. 6
„a series of anonymous letters, sent to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Apostolic Nuncio and various cardinals in the United States in 1992 and 1993, accused McCarrick of pedophilia“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), Executive Summary, S. 6. Original Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, Executive Summary, S. 7
„McCarrick was known to have shared a bed with adult seminarians at a beach house on the New Jersey shore“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), Executive Summary, S. 7. Original - In June 2017 the Archdiocese of New York learned of the first known allegation that McCarrick had abused a minor in the early 1970s.
Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, Executive Summary, S. 14
„In June 2017, the Archdiocese of New York learned of the first known allegation of sexual abuse by McCarrick of a victim under 18 years of age, which occurred in the early 1970s“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), Executive Summary, S. 14. Original
How were they charged and sentenced?
- In 2000 the pope's ambassador consulted four bishops from New Jersey. Three of them gave the Holy See false and incomplete information about McCarrick's sexual conduct with young adults. McCarrick's written assurance that in seventy years he had never had sexual contact with anyone was believed.
Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, Executive Summary, S. 7 f.
„three of the four American bishops provided inaccurate and incomplete information to the Holy See regarding McCarrick’s sexual conduct with young“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), Executive Summary, S. 7 f.. Original Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, Executive Summary, S. 8
„McCarrick’s denial was believed“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), Executive Summary, S. 8. Original - Under Benedict XVI no canon law proceedings were opened. McCarrick's conscience was merely appealed to, to appear less in public and to travel less; there was no ban on public ministry. He remained active, travelled to Rome and remained a member of Vatican bodies.
Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, Executive Summary, S. 11
„the path of a canonical process to resolve factual issues and possibly prescribe canonical penalties was not taken“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), Executive Summary, S. 11. Original Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, Executive Summary, S. 11
„did not include a prohibition on public ministry“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), Executive Summary, S. 11. Original Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, Executive Summary, S. 11
„In the absence of canonical sanctions or explicit instructions from the Holy Father, McCarrick continued his activities in the United States and overseas“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), Executive Summary, S. 11. Original - After criminal proceedings by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, McCarrick was found guilty of committing sexual acts against minors and adults and was dismissed from the clerical state.
Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, Executive Summary, S. 14
„McCarrick was found culpable of acts in contravention of the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue involving both minors and adults, and on that basis was dismissed from the clerical state“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), Executive Summary, S. 14. Original
What happened to those affected?
- A priest ("Priest 3" in the report) told Bishop Edward Hughes of Metuchen about the abuse by McCarrick and felt ashamed and humiliated in doing so. Hughes advised him to forget the matter and to forgive McCarrick "for the good of the Church". The priest took the advice to heart and did not speak about it to anyone until he began counselling in 2010. A mother whose sons had gone on overnight trips with McCarrick as minors feared retaliation against her children; by her own account she regretted "every day" not having acted more firmly earlier.
Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, S. 86 (PDF-S. 98)
„Although he felt “ashamed” and “humiliated,” Priest 3 then told Bishop Hughes “what [had] happened. I opened my heart to him.”“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), S. 86 (PDF-S. 98). Original Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, S. 87 (PDF-S. 99)
„Bishop Hughes advised Priest 3 to forget about McCarrick’s misconduct and to forgive McCarrick “for the good of the Church.”“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), S. 87 (PDF-S. 99). Original Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, S. 87 (PDF-S. 99)
„he did not discuss the incidents with McCarrick with anyone else until he underwent counseling in 2010“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), S. 87 (PDF-S. 99). Original Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, S. 42 (PDF-S. 54)
„was fearful that her decision to report could result in some form of retaliation against her children“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), S. 42 (PDF-S. 54). Original Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, S. 42 (PDF-S. 54), Anm. 150
„Mother 1, who stated that she regretted “every day” not having acted more firmly earlier“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), S. 42 (PDF-S. 54), Anm. 150. Original Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, S. 46 (PDF-S. 58), Anm. 180
„Each had been a minor who went on overnight trips with McCarrick during the 1970s or early 1980s.“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), S. 46 (PDF-S. 58), Anm. 180. Original
Witness accounts and records
“I explained what had happened to me and, according to the way he handled it, he treated me like I was somehow at fault for making an accusation.”
Background
Why? Justification and motives (according to the sources)
- McCarrick denied any sexual conduct and called claims to the contrary slanderous or politically motivated gossip. The report considers it likely, though without direct evidence, that John Paul II believed his denials partly because he had experienced in Poland how false accusations against bishops were used to damage the reputation of the Church.
Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, Executive Summary, S. 9
„he insisted that he had never engaged in sexual conduct and that claims to the contrary, including the anonymous letters, constituted calumnious and/or politically motivated gossip“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), Executive Summary, S. 9. Original Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, Executive Summary, S. 9
„Though there is no direct evidence, it appears likely from the information obtained that John Paul II’s past experience in Poland regarding the use of spurious allegations against bishops to degrade the standing of the Church played a role in his willingness to believe McCarrick’s denials.“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), Executive Summary, S. 9. Original
Who received the assets, who profited?
- In Metuchen and Newark McCarrick was regarded as a successful fundraiser, for his dioceses and for the Holy See.
Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, Executive Summary, S. 6
„He also became known and appreciated as an effective fundraiser, both at the diocesan level and for the Holy See“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), Executive Summary, S. 6. Original
Response of the Church
- Because of his conduct, a move to a larger see was three times considered imprudent: Chicago in 1997, New York in 1999/2000 and initially also Washington in July 2000. In November 2000 John Paul II nevertheless appointed him Archbishop of Washington, and in early 2001 a cardinal.
Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, Executive Summary, S. 7
„Information regarding McCarrick’s conduct led to the conclusion that it would be imprudent to transfer him from Newark to another See on three occasions“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), Executive Summary, S. 7. Original Evidence: Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls, Executive Summary, S. 6
„Archbishop McCarrick was appointed to Washington in late 2000 and created cardinal in early 2001“
Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), Executive Summary, S. 6. Original
Original documents to read
- Church document
Staatssekretariat des Heiligen Stuhls: Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017), 10 November 2020. Original (retrieved 11 Oct 2026)
Change log (6)
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Last changed on 22 October 2026. Is something missing or wrong? Suggest an addition or correction.