Prominent US Catholic resigns over abuse claims
Pope Francis has accepted the
resignation of a prominent US cardinal accused of sexually assaulting a
teenager nearly 50 years ago.
Theodore McCarrick, 88, a former
Archbishop of Washington, has also been suspended from public duties
pending a canonical trial, the Vatican said.
Last month US church
officials said the allegations were credible. Mr McCarrick has said he
has "absolutely no recollection" of the alleged abuse.
Further allegations have since emerged.
Mr
McCarrick was one of the most prominent US cardinals and is one of the
most high-profile Catholic leaders to face abuse claims.
"Pope Francis accepted his resignation from the cardinalate and
has ordered his suspension from the exercise of any public ministry,
together with the obligation to remain in a house yet to be indicated to
him, for a life of prayer and penance until the accusations made
against him are examined in a regular canonical trial," a Vatican
statement said.
Mr McCarrick is alleged to have assaulted
the teenager while working as a priest in New York in the early 1970s.
The claims were made public in June by the current Archbishop of New
York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
He said an independent forensic
agency had investigated the allegations. A review board, including legal
experts, psychologists, parents and a priest, then found the
allegations "credible and substantiated".
Several more men have
since said Mr McCarrick forced them to have sex with him at a beach
house in New Jersey, while they studied for the priesthood as adult
seminarians. One man has come forward saying he was assaulted while
still a minor.
Mr McCarrick has not commented on the more recent allegations.
It
has also since emerged that settlements were reached in at least two
cases of alleged sexual misconduct with adults involving Mr McCarrick.
They
involved "allegations of sexual misconduct with adults decades ago",
while Mr McCarrick was working as a bishop in New Jersey, bishops in the
state told US media.
Mr McCarrick became a priest in 1958 and
later worked in New York before becoming Archbishop of Washington
between 2001 and 2006.
Despite having officially retired, he has continued to attend events abroad, including those focusing on human rights issues.
Source: BBC
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