Then-Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick kisses Pope John Paul II after receiving his biretta, the four-cornered red cardinal's hat, during a consistory ceremony in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City Feb. 21, 2001. The pope named the now- disgraced former cardinal to head the Washington Archdiocese Nov. 22, 2000. (CNS photo/Vincenzo Pinto, Reuters)
Dec. 13, 2020
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON -- One month to the day that the Vatican released its report on since-laicized cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a panel of academics took a close look at what one called a "hyperclerical culture" that allowed McCarrick's sexual misconduct to go unchecked.
"Silence is dangerous," said John Carr, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University, a co-sponsor of the Dec 10 dialogue, "The McCarrick Report: Findings, Lessons and Directions," and who himself had been subject to sexual abuse when he was a seminarian. "Hyperclerical culture can be horrific -- and their decisions reflect that."