SPOKANE (WA)
The Inlander
March 7, 2019
By Daniel Walters
The so-called Summer of Shame had set the stage for November’s meeting of U.S. bishops. There was a lot to answer for.
In July, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had become the highest-ranking Catholic leader ever to resign in a sex-abuse scandal in the United States. In August, a grand jury report charged that over 1,000 children had been victimized by more than 300 priests across the state of Pennsylvania.
So by November, when nearly 200 Catholic leaders — including Spokane’s bishop, Thomas Daly, and his predecessor, Blase Cupich — gathered for the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the pressure to directly address the scandals was intense.
Outside the Baltimore conference hall, a dozen protesters waved signs with demands like “Reform” and “Repent Resign.”
But as soon as the conference began, the bishops learned that the Vatican had barred them from holding votes on two proposals until after a February summit on sex abuse. Even before the announcement of the Vatican’s dictate concluded, Cardinal Cupich was at the microphone to address the group.
In just six years, Cupich had risen from the bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, to the bishop of Spokane, to archbishop of Chicago. Today, he’s a cardinal and one of the highest-profile champions of Pope Francis’s vision for a more inclusive church.
“It is clear that the Holy See is taking seriously the abuse crisis,” Cupich proclaimed. He argued the delay would put even more focus on such an important issue, and he called for the bishops to reconvene immediately after the February summit.
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