According to some reports, former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was removed from his position amid a child sexual abuse scandal, passed away Friday at the age of 94.
McCarrick, appointed archbishop of Washington, DC in 2001, died in old age in Missouri while suffering from dementia. Pillars and the national Catholic Reporter (NCR). The Disgraceful Cardinal was discovered in 2020 investigation By the Catholic Church with sexually abused children since the 1990s.
The report also blamed Pope John Paul II for not taking allegations made against him seriously during his promotion to cardinal due to his previous friendship with McCarrick. King John Paul II was said to have been warned in 1999 by Cardinal John O’Connor of New York, at the time of McCarrick’s allegations. (Related: Catholic bishop says Biden’s “immigration policy has exacerbated the “immigration crisis”)
Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick will kick out protesters when he leaves Dedham Court after pleading not guilty during his first appearance on a sexual assault charge in Dedham, Massachusetts on September 3, 2021. (Photo: Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
The former cardinal is also said to be known to invite seminaries to sleep with him in the same bed, NCR reported.
Cardinal initially faced public allegations of sexual abuse and harassment in 2018, but at the time he remained innocent.
“I was shocked by the report and while maintaining my innocence, I thought it was essential that I be reported to the police, thoroughly investigated by an independent body, and given to the Archdiocese of New York, review board, and I worked fully together in the process.
McCarrick was appointed bishop in 1958 and became Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey before being appointed to the Parish of Washington in 1986.
The most recent accusation against McCarrick was in 2021, claiming that in 1974 he sexually assaulted a teenage boy at a wedding reception. McCarrick also faced criminal charges of sexual abuse in Wisconsin, but the judge dropped the charges in 2024 after admitting that Cardinal’s attempted dementia was ruthless, according to the NCR.
The Vatican Communications Bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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