https://www.ncronline.org/news/disgraced-former-cardinal-mccarrick-dies-94 Disgraced former Cardinal McCarrick dies at 94 April 4, 2025 Defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the once-powerful archbishop of Washington, D.C., who was removed from the priesthood amidst one of the worst sexual-abuse scandals in the history of the American Catholic Church, has died at the age of 94 in Missouri. His death on Thursday was confirmed by two people briefed on the matter but who initially asked not to be named. Ordained in 1958, McCarrick became archbishop in Newark, New Jersey, in 1986 and then archbishop of Washington, D.C., in 2000, rising to power despite church officials’ knowledge of sexual-abuse accusations against him. A two-year Vatican investigation into McCarrick’s tenure found credible reports of his abusive behavior dating to 1999, including an inquiry confirming that he slept with seminarians. McCarrick timeline To read The Vatican's McCarrick report: a timeline of events, our 2022 report that tracks the career of disgraced ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick, click here. McCarrick was removed from the priesthood after a Vatican investigation found he had sexually molested adults and children. He became the highest-ranking Catholic cleric in the U.S. to face criminal charges for sexual abuse. In 2021, McCarrick was accused of assaulting a teenage boy at a wedding reception in Massachusetts in 1974. In an explosive 2020 report that called into question the decision-making of three Catholic popes, the Vatican revealed institutional failures that led to repeated promotions for McCarrick despite rumors of his alleged sexual misconduct with young men as early as the 1990s. Pope John Paul II embraces Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington after placing the red biretta on the new cardinal during a consistory ceremony in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Feb. 21, 2001. McCarrick has died at age 94. (CNS/L'Osservatore Romano/Arturo Mari) The Vatican placed the bulk of the blame on Pope John Paul II, the now Catholic saint who appointed McCarrick as archbishop of Washington in 2000 and made him a cardinal in 2001. The report revealed that the late John Paul II, made the McCarrick appointments despite being warned in 1999 by then-New York Cardinal John O'Connor that McCarrick had been the subject of anonymous allegations and was known to invite seminarians to sleep with him in the same bed. In 2024, a Wisconsin judge suspended charges against McCarrick ruling that he was incompetent for trial because of dementia. This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Sent from my iPhone
He has gone to his eternal judgement. Whatever he escaped here on earth, he has faced it in the next now.
Strange I haven’t seen a word in most online news outlets. I would have thought they would jump at the chance to point fingers at the Church.
It is not McCarrick himself that worries me so much but his legacy. He was involved in the elevation of so many Cardinals and Bishops who are, in a way, his family, his children. That is what fills me with dread. His legacy. Matthew 7:21 A Tree and its Fruit …20So then, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’…
What is absolutely mind boggling to me is that this man (b.1930) , and others like Cardinal Bernadin(b.1928), were also someone's legacy, yet remained completely hidden for decades......
Yes. My family and I shook Cardinal McCarrick’s hand in a reception line when he first came to Washington, DC. He was so pleasant and personable. You would never guess.
Malachi Martin, I think, suggested that Cardinal Bernadin was involved in Satanism. That sounded far fetched at the time when we were all a lot more innocent. But it doesn't now. I think any priest involved in sexual abuse I would suspect diabolical involvement . But even more so with a Bishop. Even more so again with a Cardinal. The two things go together like ham and eggs. I am not too sure how many more scandals involving Cardinals the Church can stand. https://www.leilamiller.net/blog/2022/8/2/bishop-mcelroy-should-never-become-a-cardinal
St. Francis de Sales speaks truth with regard to scandal ~ personally, I cling to the truth of these words with all my might and just hold on as best as I am able.
