BRONX (NY)
Fordham Observer
December 3, 2020
By Jill Rice
[Includes useful timeline by Maddie Sandholm.]
Minors, seminarians and priests accuse longtime archbishop of sexual abuse and abuse of authority
The Vatican released a 450-page report on Nov. 10 about Theodore McCarrick, ex-cardinal of the Catholic Church and Fordham College at Rose Hill ’54, regarding his abuse of power and authority, as well as his abuse of minors, seminarians and priests.
The new report is the result of Pope Francis’ call for a full investigation into McCarrick’s actions in October 2018. Relying primarily on official Vatican documents and correspondences, as well as witness interviews, the report covers McCarrick’s tenure as a priest, bishop, archbishop and cardinal over the past 50 years.
In 2019, McCarrick was defrocked, meaning that he is unable to perform the pastoral and ministerial duties of a priest or to marry, as a layperson — someone not ordained as a priest — would.
Fordham rescinded McCarrick’s honorary degree and has changed the name of its fellowship for a graduate program in International Political Economy and Development to the John Fidelis Hurley, S.J., Fellowship.
Rise to Power and First Allegations
According to the Vatican’s report, McCarrick was appointed as an auxiliary bishop in New York in 1977 under Pope Paul VI. He was then elevated to the seat of bishop of Metuchen, New Jersey, in 1981, and archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, in 1986 under St. John Paul II.
McCarrick was “lauded as a pastoral, intelligent and zealous bishop” and no credible information was present to suggest any misconduct, the report stated. He became the archbishop of Washington, D.C., in 2000 and created cardinal in 2001.
When he was elevated to cardinal, according to the introduction of the report, there were four general allegations against McCarrick.
Anyone who testified against McCarrick remained anonymous, and the report labeled the priests as Priest 1, Priest 2, and so on, for clarity.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.