The Case of Theodore McCarrick | Commonweal Magazine

  • Thread starter Thread starter ramartensjr
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
R

ramartensjr

Guest
www.commonwealmagazine.org

The Case of Theodore McCarrick | Commonweal Magazine

The whistle-blower in the McCarrick affair narrates the steps he took to report the former cardinal’s abusive behavior, but also the ways in which it was ignored
www.commonwealmagazine.org www.commonwealmagazine.org
McCarrick has recently been relegated to a religious house in Victoria, Kansas, where he is to live “a life of prayer and penance,” but such a discipline may sound medieval and all too remote from the common experience of most Catholics today. If he is guilty of what he has been accused of, and if prison is not an option because of the statute of limitations, McCarrick’s public removal from the priesthood, not just the College of Cardinals, would be an appropriate and generally understandable response to his crimes and sins. The laicization of the cleric who was perhaps the most public face of the institutional church in the United States would also demonstrate that the victims of abuse, both children and adults, count for more in the church than the institution.
Click to expand...
 
Why is mercy not an acceptable option for you, dear remartensjr? The cardinal looks contrite and remorseful. If his sins are forgiven by God then who are we to judge him?

A life or prayer and penance is an honorable path to his sunset years for an honorable man who just happened to be a sinner. Aren’t we all sinners, my friend, after all? New Evangelization teaches us to exercise mercy with humbleness and good heart acknowledging that we are all sinners. The Neocatechumenal Way, for one, is teaching that following Christ is best expressed by loving and laying down your life for your enemy. When you embrace and die for your enemy, then you are a Christian. Is this not beautiful? Is this not what following Jesus is all about?

We should not bend to the demand of the times when the world incites state attorneys on bitter attacks against the Catholic Church, all around the U.S. These attacks are based on allegations and unverifiable claims from the past. But should we be judgmental against our own brothers in Christ as the states do? Whatever happened to religious freedom? Whatever happened to the separation of church and state?
 
Last edited:
Honorable man?
Did you read what he did!
If I am not mistaken the Cardinal has still not owned up to all the behavior.
These are not, as you put it “unverifiable claims” and attacks against the Church.

These were hideous abuses. The victims deserve at least his removal from the priesthood. If he is not removed the faithful as well as the victims are further scandalized by sending the message that his actions were becoming of a priest…Mercy yes, downplaying the serious damage he did…no.
 
Last edited:
Priests who have been credibly accused - proven guilty of one offense - should be forbidden to engage in public ministry ever again, but can still offer the Mass, privately, in my opinion. They can remain priests.

Priests who have repeatedly engaged in sexual offenses, and have been proven guilty, should be laicized. The Church still does need to extend God’s mercy, but mercy does not mean remaining a priest.

I do not agree with the calls to automatically excommunicate these men, unless there is another issue.
 
I_trust said:
Honorable man?
Did you read what he did!
Click to expand...
I meant honorable by his title. I did not mean to judge him one way or the other. We have no evidence that he would be unrepentant. Cardinal McCarrick seems to be aware of his guilt. I had a chance to meet him once while in Washington DC in the early 2000s. He did not seem to be a bad person.
I_trust said:
These are not, as you put it “unverifiable claims” and attacks against the Church.
Click to expand...
You are right in the case of Cardinal McCarrick. Some of the accusations had been verified in relation to him. However, as the author of the Common weal Magazine article, Fr. Boniface Ramsey says, “the second phase of the American church’s sexual-abuse crisis had begun”. This is apart from the McCarrick case. This is war waged at the state attorneys level against the church, its hierarchy and its members who will have to pay the price tag of the warfare. This anti-Catholic war will bring up an avalanche of sexual abuse and cover-up claims against the Holy Mother Church from such a distant past that effectively nobody will have any chance to verify.
 
Last edited:
curious_cath said:
I had a chance to meet him once while in Washington DC in the early 2000s. He did not seem to be a bad person.

I_trust:
Click to expand...
There are reports of people meeting very famous serial killers saying the same exact thing. That why they are able to get away with this nastiness for so long. They don’t seem like bad men (or women) because if they did, no one would trust them enough to be in a situation that allows them to do the very bad things that they do.

He has publically stated he does not remember abusing anyone. That surely does not sound like he is sorry for what he has done.
 
13pollitos said:
He has publically stated he does not remember abusing anyone.
Click to expand...
I do not intend to be the “devil’s advocate” or the defender of the indefensible. I myself condemn Cardinal McCarrick’s action what he did in abusing the trust of people. But I refrain from judging the person, especially his standing with regret, confession and absolution. If he participated in the Holy Sacrament of reconciliation then why should we doubt the truthfulness of his remorse?

Even if someone thinks of the Cardinal as his enemy, should not he love his enemy and lay down his life for his enemy as Chistians do?

Cardinal McCarrick might have abused the trust of people. But did he abuse those seminarians? I do not see victims coming forward in large numbers. Just recently, a serial abuser priest died at the ripe age of 97 with uncounted number of litigation still going on against him.

Retired priest who admitted to molesting children dies at 97

But where are the victims of Cardinal McCarrick? Or perhaps was it consensual whatever happened at that remote beach house? May a Cardinal devise a way to beat temptation without falling into the trap of evil desires? What if this was how Cardinal McCarrick overcame the devil? Not questioning his guilt we just should see a comparison with those serial abusers, who nevertheless were given a peace of letting go in prayer and penance after honest remorse and reconciliation with God.

Our eventual judge is not from the earth. All we can do is to demonstrate love and mercy to heal the world in its worldliness. Say no to sin but say yes to the sinner who is repentant.
 
Last edited:
It’s not just seminarians he abused (and the diocese paid off some). He also abused two boys, including his own GODSON—the first baby he ever baptized.
 
Emphasis on “mercy” is what has allowed abusers to have free reign for decades now. In the name of “mercy” the Church relaxed the rules on chastity among seminarians and they relaxed the punishment for violating it, and this is where we are at now. Enough is enough, it’s time to stop enabling and coddling these wolves among the sheep and the people that cover for them. This is a false mercy and actions should have consequences.
 
Last edited:
I think it is an appropriate penalty for McCormick.

It’s a pretty significant fall from grace.

Going from the Conclave to not even able to celebrate mass. . . .
 
Last edited:
Apparently he can privately. He is still a priest. It’s just a public ban on celebrating Mass
 
I thought when they are laicized they can’t even celebrate privately.

Was McCarrick laicized?
 
No. Just removed from the college of cardinals as far as I have heard. He is still referred to as archbishop emeritus in many of the articles. And I guess technically not removed. He resigned.
 
Last edited:
McCarrick was not removed from the College of Cardinals- his resignation was accepted by Pope Francis who ordered him to remain in seclusion and prayer until a church trial considers further sanctions. He has never admitted any wrongdoing, as other posters have noted.

In his place of seclusion in the monastery in Kansas, no one has access to ask questions, to hear any of his explanations, or to confront him with his past actions. McCarrick has, effectively, been silenced. Will there even be a Church trial?

He is still holds office of priest and archbishop. Just as there are ceremonies to VEST a man in various offices- deacon, priest, bishop, there is also the ability to DI-VEST or defrock.
 
The entire quote is from the article.
Only the emphasis is mine.
Nonetheless, I do agree with the author.
 
Ardent_Fire said:
Emphasis on “mercy” is what has allowed abusers to have free reign for decades now. (…) This is a false mercy and actions should have consequences.
Click to expand...
Yes, actions do have consequences. But again, mercy is not something coming from man. It is from God so no man can withhold or block mercy from flowing freely to the heart of a repentant sinner.

We have a high priest, in this case Pope Francis, who has sympathy for us as he knows all kinds of temptation himself. He intercedes for us with loud voice, a way of chasing devil away. He cannot hold back mercy, because it is not his authority to manage something that comes from heaven through the precious purchase price paid by our Savior. It was not paid by worthless money but by His precious blood.

Attorney generals are preparing at this very moment to launch a new state sponsored anti-Catholic campaign, something we have seen at the turn of the 20th century in fighting “Romanism”. We should decide whose side we take. Are we with the Great Accuser who has no mercy in devouring the Precious Body? Or are we on the soil of religious freedom and a separation of church and state? Who said states have the right to nose around the church’s archives looking for ancient stories to make accusations?

In the long haul, we’ll see the same amount of mercy we dispense from God to others. Pray for our ability to see ourselves as irredeemable sinners who need an immeasurable amount of mercy at every moment of our lives.
 
ramartensjr said:
The entire quote is from the article.
Click to expand...
As the author of the Commonweal Magazine article, Fr. Boniface Ramsey says, “the second phase of the American church’s sexual-abuse crisis had begun”. This war is to be waged by the state attorneys against the church, its hierarchy and its members who will have to pay, eventually, the price tag of warfare. Are we going to produce scapegoats made of high ranking clergy for the consumption of the public and for the satisfaction of the state? Whose side are we taking in this war?
 
Last edited:
I’m not going to sit here and gleefully celebrate whatever the attorney generals choose to do, but nobody is above the law, especially when it comes to violating the young and vulnerable and any institutional failure to protect them. Victims have been gaslit and ignored for years and as far as I’m concerned, the corrupt can sleep in the bed they made. This idea that everyone is supposed to just “be quiet” and ignore the problem is just abusive language that perpetuates the disease that has been spreading in the Church like a cancer to begin with.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top