Washington D.C., Jan 16, 2019 / 17:12 pm
The man who made a 2004 accusation of misconduct against Archbishop Theodore McCarrick said Wednesday he is in disbelief after Cardinal Donald Wuerl told him he forgot about the allegation sometime after becoming Washington's archbishop in 2006.
In a Jan. 15 letter, Wuerl wrote to Washington, DC priests that "when I was asked if I had any previous knowledge of allegations against Archbishop McCarrick, I said I did not. Only afterwards was I reminded of the 14-year-old accusation of inappropriate conduct which, by that time, I had forgotten."
In a previous letter to priests, sent Jan. 12, Wuerl did not mention forgetting the allegation, instead he said he was bound by confidentiality not to mention it, and that when he denied hearing rumors about McCarrick's misconduct, he meant only that he had not heard rumors that McCarrick had sexually abused minors.
The 2004 complaint was made by laicized priest Robert Ciolek.