Top Cardinal Booted Over “Credible” Abuse Claims

CBS News reports:



Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington DC, has been removed from public ministry after an accusation he abused a teen nearly 50 years ago while serving as a priest in New York archdiocese. McCarrick, now at age 87, previously served as archbishop of Newark in New Jersey.

The cardinal maintains his innocence but has accepted the ruling that the accusation was credible. Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York was tasked to investigate the allegation with a board from the Archdiocese of New York.

After finding the allegations credible, Dolan recommended McCarrick be kept from public ministry until a final decision by the Vatican is made. As archbishop of Washington from 2001 to 2006, McCarrick oversaw an archdiocese of more than 500,000 Catholics and 115 parochial schools in the District and Maryland. Pope John Paul II later elevated McCarrick to the College of Cardinals.