In 2018, Wuerl denied having been informed by the Vatican as to McCarrick's living situation or travel restrictions, as alleged by former Nuncio Carlo Maria Vigano in his August 2018 "testimony."
A spokesman for the archdiocese told CNA on Aug. 27, 2018, that "Archbishop McCarrick typically made his own housing arrangements and did not directly involve the Archdiocese of Washington."
Wuerl, when interviewed for the McCarrick Report, said that Vatican officials never told him about wishes for McCarrick to move out of the seminary: "Nobody ever told me anything about [Holy See officials] wanting him to move. Nothing."
Wuerl is quoted in the report saying that McCarrick approached him requesting that he help the retired cardinal find a residence other than the seminary.
As CNA reported, McCarrick moved out of Redemptoris Mater Seminary and into a residence at St. Thomas the Apostle parish in Washington, D.C., in early 2009; a priest-resident at the parish told CNA that Wuerl "ordered" the move.
According to Vatican correspondence in the report, Wuerl was also part of discussions with Vatican officials about the need for McCarrick to possibly move out of his residence and keep a lower public profile.
On Oct. 17, 2006, shortly after Wuerl took possession of the Archdiocese of Washington, Vatican officials discussed the need to limit McCarrick's travel and public appearances due to an abuse allegation filed with the Diocese of Metuchen.
Given that the allegation involved McCarrick's abuse of a seminarian, the Vatican also proposed moving McCarrick out of his then-residence at a Washington seminary.
In a letter from Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, then-Prefect for the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, to then-apostolic nuncio Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Re said he informed Wuerl of the situation:
"I did determine that it was necessary to make mention of this [matter] to H.E. Mons Wuerl, [Cardinal McCarrick's] successor, when he was passing through Rome, for his personal information."
Wuerl's name appeared again in Vatican correspondence in 2008, in a May 27 report to Rome by Sambi.
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Sambi said that he and Wuerl agreed upon the need for McCarrick's travel restrictions and maintaining his seminary residence given the ever-present risk of "a scandal-inducing campaign" against him.
"Msgr. Wuerl is of the opinion that he should not accept invitations in the United States," Sambi wrote.
The report also says that Re "clearly recalled in an interview" that he discussed McCarrick's living situation with Wuerl and that Wuerl "consistently favored McCarrick not living at the seminary."
In 2011, McCarrick moved out of his apartment at St. Thomas parish to a small house on the property of Saint John Baptist de la Salle Parish in Hyattsville, Maryland. According to the McCarrick Report, the move was related to McCarrick's advancing age and declining health, but Wuerl also could no longer supply him with a diocesan priest as a secretary.
According to the report, McCarrick continued living in the house until 2017, when he moved to a retirement home maintained by the Little Sisters of the Poor, at the request of Cardinal Wuerl.
Matt Hadro was the political editor at Catholic News Agency through October 2021. He previously worked as CNA senior D.C. correspondent and as a press secretary for U.S. Congressman Chris Smith.