America’s Bishops Shouldn’t Be Investigating One of Their Own

By Editorial Board
New York Post
August 9, 2018

https://nypost.com/2018/08/09/americas-bishops-shouldnt-be-investigating-one-of-their-own/

Cardinal Donald Wuerl

Well over a decade into the Catholic Church’s abuse scandals, at least one American cardinal still doesn’t understand why the church hierarchy can’t lead an investigation of itself.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, DC, is calling for a panel of bishops to investigate the full extent of his predecessor ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s long-running sexual abuse of minors and seminarians. Really.

Albany Bishop Edward Scharfenberger gets it: “To have credibility, a panel would have to be separated from any source of power whose trustworthiness might potentially be compromised,” he wrote. “Our lay people are not only willing to take on this much-needed role, but they are eager to help us make lasting reforms that will restore a level of trust that has been shattered yet again.”

McCarrick’s own record ought to be proof enough. Long one of the most powerful figures in the American church, he initially pooh-poohed the scandals when they first broke in 2002, downplaying the landmark Boston Globe investigation as the media taking an “opportunity to destroy the credibility of the Church.”

Yet as more and more and more stories broke and as it became impossible to deny that the church had a serious problem, McCarrick rebranded himself a reformer. He boldly headed up the bishop-led investigation to reform the priesthood, promising “zero tolerance” for those who abused minors.

Yet now McCarrick has been stripped of his red hat and faces a clerical trial on charges he himself was an abuser — for decades. His hundreds of proteges over those years, some of whom had to have turned a blind eye to his behavior, include many priests who are now senior figures in the church.

That includes Wuerl, McCarrick’s hand-picked successor in DC. How does he have the gall to say the bishops should lead the investigation now?

If the hierarchy wants to ever recover credibility with the faithful, it must step aside and let the laity clean house.