BRIDGEWATER (NJ)
Courier News/My Central New Jersey
June 20, 2018
By Paul C. Grzella
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the retired archbishop of Washington who also served as the Archbishop of Newark and the founding Bishop of Metuchen, is alleged to have sexually abused a minor 47 years ago when he was a priest in the Archdiocese of New York, church officials announced this morning.
As a result of the allegations, called “credible and substantiated” by church officials, the cardinal is stepping down from active ministry.
“While I have absolutely no recollection of this reported abuse, and believe in my innocence, I am sorry for the pain the person who brought the charges has gone through, as well as for the scandal such charges cause our people,” McCarrick said in a statement this morning.
He is the believed to be the first cardinal to step down from active ministry for sexually abusing a minor.
According to a statement from the Archdiocese of New York, the allegations were reviewed by an independent board and were found to be credible and substantiated. The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, at the direction of Pope Francis, has instructed McCarrick, the now retired Archbishop of Washington, that he is no longer to exercise publicly his priestly ministry, according to the statement.
“Cardinal McCarrick, while maintaining his innocence, has accepted the decision,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, said in the statement.
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