Peter
Public penance should be the first response. Then let’s look at some basic improvements to canon law The official response to the allegations against Theodore McCarrick has been tiresomely predictable. First, the bishops expressed shock and disbelief; then they dutifully called for improved procedures to deal with offending clerics. Of course Church law, like the … Read more
Current Role Bishop of San Diego, California Official Web Site: http://www.diocese-sdiego.org/ Mailing Address: Pastoral Center, 3888 Paducah Dr., P.O. Box 85728, San Diego, CA 92186, USA Telephone: (858)490-8200 Fax: 490-8272 What’s Been Reported In 2016, Richard Sipe reportedly personally met with Bishop McElroy and subsequently hand delivered him a letter warning him of McCarrick’s alleged … Read more
This is almost cinematic: A.W. Richard Sipe, one of the foremost figures in the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandal drama, died Wednesday night at his California home. He was 85. In a retrospective of Sipe’s life, Terence McKiernan of the Bishop Accountability site writes: A. W. Richard Sipe truly invented the rigorous study of the clergy … Read more
Amid the raw anger over the cover-ups for ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s alleged sexual abuse, bishops and lay faithful are calling for independent investigations, saying the credibility of the U.S. episcopate has been shattered. Both clergy and lay leaders are calling for laypeople, independent of the Church’s structure, to be empowered to help root out corruption … Read more
Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s roles included service on the boards of at least two foundations that gave over $500,000 combined to his personally overseen fund at the Archdiocese of Washington over a decade’s time. While the archdiocese says no irregularities have been found, CNA’s examination of tax records provides more insight into the archbishop’s areas … Read more
Homosexual acts committed by or between clerics—even among those presumably able to consent—are at the root, the very root, of the sexual misconduct and cover-up crisis exposed by the McCarrick scandal. Who on earth does not yet know that yet? So my jaw dropped—which takes some doing these days—my jaw dropped when Msgr. Thomas Guarino, in an … Read more
A group representing clerical child sex survivors worldwide has written an open letter to Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin seeking the removal of three cardinals from World Meeting of Families (WMOF) events in Dublin later this month. Archbishop Martin is chairing the WMOF board. Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) represents survivors in 15 countries and … Read more
San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy was told of Abp. Theodore McCarrick’s sexual predation as early as July 2016, but remained silent. Richard Sipe, the renowned expert in clerical sex abuse who passed away Friday, published his private correspondence with McElroy proving that the bishop was made aware of McCarrick’s sexual harassment of seminarians. The 13-page letter, dated July 28, 2016 … Read more
It is hard to communicate to people the life of a priest. The inexpressible joys that we experience every day are so difficult to express, as is the privilege of journeying with people through the dark valleys in their lives with hope that we can be the shepherd who brings them comfort. In light of the … Read more
According to Pope Francis-appointed Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, homosexuality in the clergy isn’t the main issue in the sex abuse crisis, and saying so is a “diversion” away from the real issue, clericalism. Cupich, one of the most left-leaning, pro-gay bishops in the country, made these comments in an interview with America magazine. “In the weeks since allegations … Read more