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Ex-Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick: "Incorrect and incomplete" information
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Alessandro Bianchi / REUTERS
The Vatican has presented a long-awaited report in a reappraisal of the abuse scandal involving former US Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
This had been a long time coming, as there was a lack of reliable evidence for the allegations in the room, it said.
The report now presented in Rome states that Pope Francis reacted quickly when he learned of allegations from 2017 concerning a minor victim.
You were referring to incidents in the 1970s.
McCarrick had therefore made a career in the Catholic Church despite these allegations.
He had managed to win over high-ranking churchmen - so that the credible evidence of his acts of abuse only became known in 2017.
In the 400-page report, it is said that the former Pope John Paul II was informed of numerous allegations against the long-time influential McCarrick.
However, some US bishops have given "incorrect and incomplete" information to the Holy See.
What role did John Paul II play?
According to the investigation, John Paul II considered the allegations against McCarrick to be unfounded.
Research by the Washington Post suggests that the ex-cardinal could have bought the Pope's silence with donations of almost $ 300,000.
In the now published Vatican report it is said several times that rumors and allegations have not been substantiated.
Pope Francis had released the retired Archbishop of Washington from the priesthood in 2019.
The now 90-year-old McCarrick was found guilty of sexual misconduct in dealings with minors and adults in an investigation by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Vatican, it said at the time.
In July 2018, the Pope had already accepted McCarrick's resignation from the rank of cardinals.
According to media reports, he had repeatedly denied misconduct.
In the scandal, Francis himself was also criticized.
There were allegations that the pontiff had ignored accusations against McCarrick for too long and even reversed sanctions against him.
Hundreds of Catholic priests are accused of sexually abusing children in the United States.
In the state of Pennsylvania alone, more than 300 priests had molested more than a thousand children over decades, and the number of unreported cases could be much higher.
In addition to a loss of trust and leaving the church, the church is now also threatened with noticeable financial losses: In the United States, claims for damages have recently increased - and the millions demanded by far exceed the compensation sums paid to victims of sexual abuse in Germany, for example.
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