Vatican’s Handling of Sexual Misconduct Complaints About Ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick Reveals a Lot About the Catholic Church

The Washington Post’s Michelle Boorstein reports on evidence that suggests the Vatican received information about multiple sexual abuse allegations against ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick well before he was suspended from his position. Boorstein writes, “The story behind the complaints, at least three of which occurred in 2000 or later, also illustrates the great value placed on deference to hierarchy within the Catholic Church, the silence and secrecy around the topic of priest sexual activity and the extreme opaqueness of the Vatican bureaucracy – factors that contributed to the allegations against McCarrick remaining hidden for so long.” She adds that the case further reveals “the unspoken contradictions between the image of priests as completely celibate and the reality of men struggling at times with their sexuality.”

Read at The Washington Post

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