ROME (ITALY)
Crux
October 12, 2018
By Christopher White
After months of speculation, Pope Francis on Friday accepted the resignation of Cardinal Donald Wuerl amid the Archdiocese of Washington’s “Season of Healing,” called by the archbishop in response to the “confusion, disappointment and disunity,” over clerical sexual abuse.
The announcement comes following several months of intense scrutiny of Wuerl’s handling of sex abuse cases in the 1980s and 1990s in Pittsburgh, and after he publicly announced he would implore Pope Francis to let him resign. The resignation effects only Wuerl’s role as the Archbishop of Washington, and he remains a cardinal in good standing.
In a rare move, Francis has asked Wuerl to remain in the archdiocese as apostolic administrator until his successor is named, and also released a letter in which he praised Wuerl’s actions in seeking the good of his archdiocese over his own personal interests.
An apostolic administrator effectively serves as a “caretaker” of the archdiocese and is not empowered to make significant changes that would affect the incoming archbishop.
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