When the former American Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, now 90 / year old, accused of having committed homosexual abuse for a long time both on young seminarians and on minors - and for the latter crime private by Pope Francis of the purple in July 2018 and reduced to the state lay in February 2019 at the end of a canonical process - was promoted first by Pope Paul VI auxiliary bishop of New York (1977), then by John Paul II bishop of Metuchen (1981), metropolitan archbishop of Newark (1986), then metropolitan archbishop of Washington (2000) and created cardinal (2001), the Holy See was not aware of his abuses or in any case, particularly at the time of his appointment in Washington, acted on the basis of partial and incomplete information.
This is what emerges from the "Report on institutional knowledge and the decision-making process of the Holy See concerning former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (from 1930 to 2017)", drawn up by the Secretariat of State by the will of Pope Bergoglio and published today after a work by documentation and investigation lasted two years.
The 400-page Report is based on the examination of a mass of documents from the various Dicasteries of the Roman Curia and the Nunciature in Washington, but also on 90 testimonial interviews, collected between May 2019 and October 2020, "of varying duration between one and thirty hours ": also heard from US cardinals and bishops, officials of the US Bishops' Conference, former seminarians and priests from various dioceses, various secretaries of McCarrick.
However, it does not address the question of the guilt of the former cardinal for canon law, since it has already been defined by the process of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which ended with his resignation from the clerical state.
Listen, though, to "numerous people who have had direct physical contact with him", in whose lengthy, "often emotional" interviews describe "a range of behaviors including sexual abuse or assault, unwanted sexual activity, intimate physical contact and sharing. of the same bed without physical contact ", in addition to" abuses of authority and power by McCarrick ".
All made available to the Pope. There is also the warning that "for readers who have suffered sexual abuse or harassment" the sections with the story of the episodes "could be traumatizing and should be approached with caution".
Some "are not suitable for minors".
Also examine McCarrick's "international activities" over five decades, his travels on behalf of institutions and charities and even the US State Department, "soft diplomacy" on behalf of the Holy See, "valued skill" in fundraising , which however "was not decisive in making the most important decisions concerning him, including his appointment to Washington in 2000".
Furthermore, "the investigation has not proved that the gifts and donations habitually made by McCarrick have ever influenced the significant decisions taken by the Holy See regarding him".
The Vatican Report on the former Cardinal McCarrick "is another tragic chapter in the Church's long battle to confront the crimes of sexual abuse of the clergy".
This was stated by the archbishop of Los Angeles and president of the American Bishops' Conference, José Gomez.