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George Neumayr: Cdl Wuerl is even now covering up for a priest who abused teen in hot tub
By Dr. Maike Hickson
The opinions expressed in the following conversation are those of the book's author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of LifeSiteNews. September 10, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – In a recent telephone interview, journalist and book author George Neumayr reveals many details about his ongoing investigation into the corruptions of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, but also of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Wuerl's predecessor. Neumayr, who is the author of The Political Pope, has been speaking with many insiders from the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. who are dismayed at the conduct of their archbishop. In this interview, Neumayr shows that he himself has received confirmation from sources close to Cardinal Wuerl that “Cardinal Wuerl had direct knowledge of McCarrick's preying upon seminarians.” He also recounts how there are sources claiming that Cardinal Wuerl himself is a homosexual. Additionally, Neumayr reveals that Wuerl currently allows Father Betasso, a priest convicted in 2011 for groping an 18-year-old male when sitting naked with him in a hot tub of a country club, to give retreats in his archdiocese. “Wuerl is now hiding behind lying legalisms in denying any responsibility for protecting his flock from Father ‘Hot Tub,’” Neumayr says, and he adds: “I know from sources that prominent members of the chancery were alerted to the problem of this Father ‘Hot Tub,’ and nothing was done to remove him from the archdiocese.” Interview with George Neumayr on 10 September 2018: Maike Hickson: What are the substantiated charges that have been made in the recent past against Cardinal Donald Wuerl with regard to his role as bishop of Pittsburgh? You have recently quoted Richard Sipe as telling you once that Cardinal Wuerl himself is a homosexual. Do you have additional evidence for the claim that he himself might be an active homosexual? George Neumayr: Take a look at the Tim Bendig deposition. He was a Pittsburgh seminarian who sued the Archdiocese of Pittsburgh under Donald Wuerl and in the course of his deposition he repeated gossip that he heard from seminarians regarding the homosexuality of Donald Wuerl, specifically that Wuerl had a boyfriend at the seminary. This was told to me by several parties involved in the deposition. And I was also told by those sources that Bendig's recycling of this gossip played a role in the hastening of a settlement in the case. The case never reached trial because he reached a settlement with the archdiocese in 1993 and promised silence. Hickson: What are the charges against Wuerl in his position as Archbishop of Washington, D.C.? Neumayr: People need to know that Cardinal Wuerl is currently allowing a teen-targeting predator to operate within the D.C. Archdiocese. This is about a Discalced Carmelite Monk called Father Emmanuel Betasso. Catholics from D.C., I was told by well-placed sources, complained to the chancery about this priest who had been arrested in 2011 for groping an 18-year old male teen in a hot tub. That priest was naked in the hot tub with the teen at a country club in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. I know that earlier this year, Fr. Betasso advertised for a retreat at the Washington Retreat House. Wuerl is now hiding behind lying legalisms in denying any responsibility for protecting his flock from Father “Hot Tub.” I know from sources that prominent members of the chancery were alerted to the problem of this Father “Hot Tub,” and nothing was done to remove him from the archdiocese. Yet, Wuerl, as we recall, placed in 2012 on administrative leave Father Marcel Guarnizo, from the Archdiocese of Moscow, because he denied Holy Communion to a lesbian woman. Guarnizo was also a visiting priest, like Betasso. That shows that Wuerl can remove a visiting priest if he wishes. Hickson: Do we have, so far, any priest from the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. who is willing to speak out about misbehavior on the side of Cardinal Wuerl with regard to sex-abuse cases and their cover-up? Neumayr: One priest has called for his resignation. On 26 August, at the end of a sermon at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Washington, D.C., Father Percival L. D'Silva asked Wuerl to resign, and he received a standing ovation. And then now, just yesterday, James Garcia, a deacon at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, D.C., called for Wuerl's resignation, saying that he would never serve Wuerl again in his Masses. Hickson: What is your assessment of Pope Francis's apparent decision not to remove Cardinal Wuerl from his diocese? Neumayr: It is obviously disgraceful. He should have accepted the pro-forma resignation of Wuerl three years ago, this resignation has been gathering dust on the Pope's desk, and he has not cut the cord on this obvious charlatan and heterodox double-dealer. He has been taking the faithful for a ride for decades now. For example, Wuerl loudly opposed Cardinal Raymond Burke's position on withholding Communion for public defenders of abortion. Wuerl also came to the defense of Pope Francis concerning his document Amoris Laetitia. Hickson: Many observers are trying to find out more facts about Pope Francis' potential failure with regard to the McCarrick case, but would you not say that he has actually already shown his failure and his complicity by not removing Wuerl from his current office now? Neumayr: This pope is expert at protecting bad bishops, and the badness of the bishops sometimes takes the form of molestation as in the case of McCarrick, or sometimes the form of being a colleague, in order to conceal the McCarrick molestations. Donald Wuerl knew well that McCarrick was preying upon seminarians, and he did nothing to protect the seminarians. Archbishop Viganò's letter bears it out. Viganò has called Wuerl “a shameless liar.” The Pope is protecting countless cover-up artists within the episcopate. Hickson: Do you have your own confirmations of parts of the Viganò report, especially about his claim concerning Pope Francis' knowledge and cover-up of the McCarrick scandal? Neumayr: Yes, I have well-placed sources close to Cardinal Wuerl who have told me point blank that Wuerl had direct knowledge of McCarrick making sexual advances upon seminarians. I also spoke to a personal friend of Cardinal Wuerl who said to me, in effect, that “Cardinal Wuerl had direct knowledge of McCarrick's preying upon seminarians.” We also know from the admission made by the Washington, D.C. chancery that Wuerl canceled an event involving McCarrick and seminarians. They claim implausibly that Wuerl did not know why he had to cancel this event after Viganò, the then-Apostolic Nuncio in the U.S, had intervened. Does anyone wonder in light of such transparently lame claims why Viganò calls Wuerl a “shameless liar”? Hickson: What is your prediction about the future development of this abuse crisis, especially in light of the fact that the U.S. bishops' own news agency Catholic News Service has now published a 2006 letter that appears to confirm some of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò's own claims? Neumayr: The outrage of the laity, and of the public at large, will grow, and we will see in all likelihood more attorney generals, in that they will be also investigating pederast-protecting bishops. Donald Wuerl will go down as the Cardinal Bernard Law of the year 2018. Like Law, Wuerl is hoping for a golden parachute into a Vatican retirement. But the laity is so angry that it would not surprise me if the cords on that golden parachute will be cut by that laity. Hickson: May we ask you for a final comment? Neumayr: I have every intention of telling the truth about the Donald Wuerl corruption. If he is going to dig in, so will I.
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