KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter
October 22, 2018
By Fr. Peter Daly
Two months into the sex abuse scandal that forced Theodore McCarrick to renounce his cardinal’s red hat and withdraw to a Capuchin friary in Kansas, Catholics are still asking, “How did this happen?” How does someone like McCarrick advance to the pinnacle of Catholic power and stay there for so long when he carries so much baggage of crime and sin? Was there no vetting? Were there no background checks? Was someone protecting him?
If there is any “malpractice” in this scandal, it belongs to the various papal nuncios (Vatican ambassadors) and the members of the Congregation for Bishops in Rome, who are responsible for checking the backgrounds of candidates for the episcopacy. They did not do their jobs. It also belongs to McCarrick’s patrons and promoters in America and in Rome, including Cardinals Francis Spellman (archbishop of New York 1939-67) and Terence Cooke (archbishop of New York 1968-83) and Pope John Paul II. All three were enchanted by McCarrick’s fundraising skills.
In his August letter to the church, Pope Francis said that the explanation for the abuse crisis is “clericalism.” I agree if we define clericalism as the view that priests and bishops are set apart from and above other people. They feel they are accountable only to their religious superiors. Certainly not to the laity and often not even to the civil authorities.
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