ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
February 2, 2019
Knowledgeable church observers and veteran journalists predict that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick will very soon be disciplined by Vatican officials.
We are grateful that McCarrick will soon face justice for the abuse he is alleged to have committed and we hope this long over due move will bring a measure of validation to all the vulnerable boys and young men McCarrick so deeply hurt. At the same time, we believe that every Catholic official who knew of or suspected his crimes and misdeeds should also be exposed and punished. That’s the only way to stop the cover ups.
This case remains a painful reminder of a dangerous reality that persists in the church today: a willingness to act on abuse only when forced to do so by external pressure. Our hearts ache, not only for McCarrick’s victims, but for the thousands of victims of less prominent but equally devastating predators, whose cases languish for years in chancery offices and Vatican bureaucracies.
One example: In November, Jefferson City, MO Bishop Shawn McKnight disclosed that there are 18 pending abuse reports his staff is looking into. Six months have gone by but there’s been no update on those cases. Surely, some of those cases have been substantiated by now and should be disclosed.
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