ROME (ITALY)
National Catholic Reporter

October 12, 2018

by Joshua J. McElwee

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl, ending a storied, five-decade career of one of the U.S. Catholic Church’s most dedicated and powerful prelates after a Pennsylvania grand jury report sparked outcry over his handling of abusive priests in the early 1990s.

While the short Oct. 12 note from the Vatican press office announcing the move did not explain the reasons behind the pontiff’s decision, a separate letter to the cardinal from Francis portrayed it as a reluctant one, made at Wuerl’s insistence.

In the letter, released by the Washington archdiocese, the pontiff tells the cardinal he saw in the request to resign “the heart of the shepherd” and asks Wuerl to remain on as Washington’s apostolic administrator, pending appointment of his successor.