Wuerl Knew of Mccarrick Accusation in 2004

By Peter Smith
Post-Gazette
January 11, 2019

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/faith-religion/2019/01/11/Cardinal-Wuerl-McCarrick-sexual-misconduct-Catholic-Pittsburgh-grand-jury/stories/201901110132

A 14-year-old document in the archives of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh contradicts Cardinal Donald Wuerl’s claim to have known nothing until last year of rumored sexual misconduct claims against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick — the man he would replace as archbishop of Washington.

In fact, then-Bishop Wuerl knew of more than rumors.

In November 2004, a former priest came to Pittsburgh from New Jersey and presented a formal statement to the independent review board that handles accusations against the diocese’s priests. In it, he identified then-Cardinal McCarrick as having committed sexual misconduct against him as an adult.

Then-Bishop Wuerl learned about the allegation immediately and, within days, reported it directly to the Vatican ambassador to the United States, the Diocese of Pittsburgh has confirmed.

The former priest, Robert Ciolek, said by phone Friday that when he saw the 2004 Wuerl memo in a December 2018 review of his case file at the Pittsburgh diocese, his first reaction was: “My God, he actually did share this with the papal nuncio. He did the right thing.”

But Mr. Ciolek said Cardinal Wuerl is undercutting that record by “lying” since then about what he knew and when.

“All that is diminished by the fact that he spent the last five months denying any knowledge” of allegations against Archbishop McCarrick, he said.

Mr. Ciolek also questioned whether Cardinal Wuerl, after becoming Washington archbishop in 2006, ever followed up with the Vatican about the status of any investigation, or took any steps to safeguard other seminarians in the proximity of his predecessor.

“Now that we know you knew, what did you do about it?” Mr. Ciolek asked rhetorically.