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Tomorrow the long-awaited Vatican report on the former Cardinal Theodore #McCarrick (now Mr. McCarrick) and his crimes of abuse will be released. It will dominate conversation in the US church for weeks, if not months. I've not seen the report, but it is supposed to be lengthy...
The report will most likely detail the sexual abuse, but also how someone like McCarrick could have risen through the ranks, while people knew or suspected his abusive crimes.
(He went from Bishop of Metuchen to Archbishop of Newark to Cardinal-Archbishop of Washington, DC)...
(He went from Bishop of Metuchen to Archbishop of Newark to Cardinal-Archbishop of Washington, DC)...
Josh McElwee has a helpful timeline: https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/vaticans-mccarrick-report-timeline-events
And a list of the key figures likely to appear in the report: https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/vaticans-mccarrick-report-roster-likely-figures
A caveat: Within an hour of the report, people will furiously try to pin the blame on one or another single factor: gays in the priesthood, homosexuality, clericalism, celibacy, chastity, women's ordination, money, Popes John Paul, Benedict or Francis, the US hierarchy, etc....
We should digest the report and resist the urge to pin the blame on a single cause, when it will most likely be a complicated mix of systemic factors, all of which need to be pulled apart, and studied carefully, in order for us to prevent this from ever happening again.
E.g., many will pin the blame on gays in the priesthood or gays in general. So a reminder: the vast majority of priests who are homosexual are faithful to their promises of celibacy and, if members of religious orders, their vows of chastity. More here: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2000/11/04/challenges-and-gifts-homosexual-priest
Also, being homosexual obviously does not make a person a pedophile. Most abuse happens within families and no one says being straight (or being married) makes one a pedophile. Nor does celibacy make one a pedophile. Your unmarried aunt or uncle is not automatically an abuser.
As we continue to move through this dark period in the church, let us resist the tendency for easy solutions and do the hard work of studying this report and considering all the factors that led to these terrible crimes of abuse.
