WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� a once-powerful Catholic cardinal who was defrocked by in 2019 after a Vatican investigation determined he had molested adults and children, has died. He was 94.
Archbishop of Washington Robert McElroy issued a statement Friday confirming McCarrick's death a day earlier but provided no details. His statement focused on those McCarrick abused.
鈥淎t this moment I am especially mindful of those who he harmed during the course of his priestly ministry," McElroy said. "Through their enduring pain, may we remain steadfast in our prayers for them and for all victims of sexual abuse.鈥�
In recent court proceedings, it was disclosed that McCarrick had been diagnosed with dementia. He had been living in Missouri, and Vatican 51暗网 reported he died there.
The McCarrick scandal created for the church, primarily because Vatican and U.S. church leaders knew he slept with seminarians but turned a blind eye as McCarrick rose to the top of the U.S. church as an adept fundraiser who advised three popes.
The Vatican's report on its investigation put the lion鈥檚 share of blame on a dead saint: Pope John Paul II, who appointed McCarrick archbishop of Washington, D.C., in 2000, despite having commissioned an inquiry that confirmed he slept with seminarians.
The report found that John Paul believed McCarrick鈥檚 last-minute, handwritten denial in which he wrote: 鈥淚 have made mistakes and may have sometimes lacked in prudence, but in the seventy years of my life I have never had sexual relations with any person, male or female, young or old, cleric or lay."
Over several decades, bishops, cardinals and popes dismissed or downplayed reports of McCarrick鈥檚 misconduct with young men as he rose through the ranks to become a cardinal and archbishop, according to the investigation.
The report contained heartbreaking testimony from people who tried to raise the alarm about McCarrick鈥檚 inappropriate behavior, including with children, in the mid-1980s.
While the findings provided new details about what the Vatican knew and when, it didn鈥檛 directly blame or admit that the church鈥檚 internal 鈥渙ld boys club鈥� culture allowed McCarrick鈥檚 behavior to continue unchecked.
Cardinals and bishops have long been considered beyond reproach. Claims of homosexual behavior are used to discredit or blackmail prelates that they often are dismissed as rumor. There also has been a widespread but unspoken tolerance of sexually active men in what is supposed to be a celibate priesthood.
The report drew on documents from Vatican departments, U.S. dioceses and seminaries and the Vatican鈥檚 U.S. Embassy. Investigators interviewed 90 people, including McCarrick鈥檚 victims, former seminarians and priests, and officials from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, responded to McCarrick鈥檚 death expressing frustration that the ex-cardinal, although defrocked, never stood trial for 鈥渢he vast harm he inflicted."
鈥淢cCarrick may be dead, but his many victims are not,鈥� said Peter Isely, a founding member of SNAP. 鈥淲e are still here, still living with the harm he caused 鈥� and with the church鈥檚 failure to stop him. 鈥�
McCarrick, who was the archbishop of Washington from 2000 to 2006, was one of the highest-ranking U.S. church officials accused in a sexual abuse scandal that has seen thousands of priests implicated. He traveled widely, was a gifted fundraiser and spoke multiple languages.
He was a priest in New York City from 1958, when he was ordained, until 1981, when he became bishop of Metuchen, New Jersey. He was archbishop of Newark from 1986 until 2000 and was elevated to cardinal in 2001.
McCarrick participated in the 2005 conclave that elected , presided over the graveside service for Sen. Ted Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery in 2009, and celebrated Mass with Pope Francis during his 2015 visit to Washington.
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This story has been corrected to reflect that McCarrick died Thursday, instead of Friday.
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David Crary, The Associated Press
