WASHINGTON D.C.
NBC News
September 7, 2018
By Matthew Vann
Cardinal Wuerl clings to power in D.C. weeks after stinging grand jury report on abuse
In a letter, Wuerl acknowledged the calls for “new leadership” but said he “also heard voices calling for the beginning of healing.”
He’s the pope’s top cleric in Washington. But Cardinal Donald Wuerl has also become the face of the Roman Catholic Church’s renewed sexual abuse crisis in the fallout of the Pennsylvania grand jury report, with mounting calls from priests, Catholic university presidents and parishioners for his removal as Washington’s archbishop.
At 77, Wuerl is one of the world’s most influential bishops. He’s a close, trusted adviser of Pope Francis and played a direct role in the selection of several U.S. bishops. Wuerl is also a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — the Vatican watchdog of church theology.
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