Washington D.C., Aug 3, 2018 / 15:56 pm
Cardinal Donald Wuerl said Friday that the Church must confirm its commitment to support the survivors of clerical sexual abuse in the aftermath of a sexual abuse scandal involving Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, Wuerl's predecessor as Archbishop of Washington.
"The initial shock, confusion, anger, and frustration when the allegations against Archbishop Theodore McCarrick came to light were the focus of our immediate response. In our pain, we also turned to all survivors of abuse, whose burdens are greater than our own. We must confirm our commitment to them with actions even more than words, that we are resolved to respond effectively in every way to these offenses," Wuerl wrote in a pastoral reflection released Aug. 3.
Wuerl's letter was written in response to a sexual abuse scandal that began June 20, when the Archdiocese of New York announced that it had completed investigating an allegation that then-Cardinal McCarrick serially sexually abused a minor in the 1970s, and found the investigation to be "credible and substantiated." After that announcement, McCarrick was accused of having had a second sexually abusive relationship with a minor, and reports emerged alleging that he had engaged, for decades, in sexually abusive and coercive behavior with seminarians and young priests.
Questions emerged about whether Church leaders, including Wuerl, properly addressed reports and rumors about McCarrick, particularly in the period of time after several dioceses in NJ reached settlements with alleged victims of McCarrick in 2005 and 2007. Wuerl has denied having had knowledge of these settlements.