Commentary: It's easy to see the problem of abuse as a lack of effective rules to root out bad actors. But I suggest that we take a medical metaphor for our lead. What's going on in the organism of the church?
NCR Connections: The bishops, collectively at least, also have a history of blaming the media, most notably when journalists uncovered sexual abuse of children and the related coverup by bishops.
Commentary: The McCarrick report trains a forensic lens on the religious monarchy's secrecy-addled system of promotions and justice. For journalists, the document is a goldmine.
NCR Connections: As NCR editor, I can assure you that my job is to pursue the truth, not "sell the news." And in the journalistic ethical tradition, we protect sources from the powerful, not the powerful themselves.
Your thoughts: With the release of the Vatican's report on former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, one figure was mentioned over and over again, St. John Paul II.
Commentary: Pope John Paul II's actions in the McCarrick report warrant condemnation today. Yet the report establishes that what he did was not extraordinary at the time; it was expected within the culture.
In the U.S., there are more than 40 schools named after Pope John Paul II. Revelations in the McCarrick report have lead to criticism of the late pope's speedy canonization. He died in 2005, was beatified in 2011 and canonized in 2014.
The recent report detailing the Vatican’s response to the scandal surrounding ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick shows why it’s a mistake to canonize popes (or anyone) quickly after their deaths.
Those who went through seminary for the Newark Archdiocese during McCarrick's tenure already knew of his long history of sexual abuse, with the Vatican report a kind of "imprimatur" validating their experiences.
The Vatican report on disgraced ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has special resonance in Poland because of the involvement of Pope John Paul II and other Polish prelates in his career and abuse cover-ups.
Your thoughts: We are continuing to dive into the in-depth Vatican report on disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, which was finally released Nov. 10.
We say: Given what we know now about the long-lasting repercussions of the decision-making of Pope John Paul II, the U.S. bishops should seriously consider whether American Catholics can continue practices that publicly celebrate him.
Watch: NCR's Heidi Schlumpf speaks with Joshua J. McElwee and abuse survivor Juan Carlos Cruz about the McCarrick report and what it might mean for the Catholic Church.
After the Vatican released its extensive report on Theodore E. McCarrick, Pope Francis renewed the Catholic Church's pledge to uproot the scourge of sexual abuse.
Analysis: The report on disgraced ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick makes it clear: Pope John Paul II decided to appoint the priest as archbishop of Washington despite repeated warnings from high-level advisers.
"The report is only the facts, just putting things out there and indicating where pieces are missing. Now we have to look at what we do with that." A potential outcome: consequences for Archbishop Viganò.
As the public sifted through the dense and detailed document on ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, abuse survivors and their advocates called it an important moment that must lead to further action and investigations.
"Pope Francis was questioned closely" about the two 2013 meetings during which Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, former nuncio to the United States, claimed he told Pope Francis about McCarrick's history of sexual misconduct, said the Nov. 10 report.
Vigano, who served as apostolic nuncio to the United States from 2011 to 2016, published his testimony in August 2018 calling on Pope Francis to resign, claiming the pope knew about McCarrick's sexual misconduct and yet eased restrictions on McCarrick's ministry and travel.
A number of accusers have come forward in the past two years, and the 90-year-old McCarrick and the various archdioceses where he was stationed are facing lawsuits.
Distinctly Catholic: The McCarrick report is really about the ways the culture of the Catholic hierarchy dealt with the sin and crime of sex abuse, and how that culture changed over four pontificates.
The Vatican's report calls into question the decision-making of three popes and reveals a series of institutional failures that led to the repeated promotion of now disgraced ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
This timeline tracks the career of disgraced ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick, ahead of the expected Nov. 10 release of the Vatican's report about how he rose through the ranks of the U.S. hierarchy.
The Vatican's report on the rise of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick will likely contain the names of people who were directly involved in his success and others who were ancillary but influential. NCR has assembled short biographical sketches of some of the more major figures.
Catholics in the U.S. and beyond hope the Vatican report on former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick will provide answers as to how he ascended church ranks unchecked, while abusing minors and seminarians.
