Since the first ugly revelations over two years ago, every post carrying an image of Theodor McCarrick’s elfin features has consistently put me in mind of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.
For those unfamiliar with the classic (spoiler alert, but you really should know this one), the portrait of the title bore all the traits of the evil perpetrated by the increasingly callous, mysteriously youthful man it portrayed. As long as his portrait endured, Dorian Gray could not age. He remained strangely young and innocent of mein as his corrupting influence continued, year after year. The painting alone betrayed his interior depravity.
Oscar Wilde himself was betrayed to the law and imprisoned for the kinds of things that today’s Dorian Cardinal Gray managed to get away with for decades. McCarrick’s studious indifference to personal wealth and his shabby clothes made him seem as innocent as the peculiarly long-lived Gray with his carefully guarded old painting.
Theodore McCarrick was consecrated bishop at what we now know was the statistical height of the clergy sex abuse crisis. At the time, no one who was consulted about McCarrick's possible consecration as bishop offered any reservation whatever. However, Kenneth Woodward wrote two years ago about the situation in some dioceses (and even at the head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy) from the late 60's on in which the double lives of unchaste priests created a culture of hypocrisy and secrecy in which no one dared call out another for his transgression, no matter what line was crossed. George Weigel has also written about the clericalist culture which McCarrick played to his advantage for over forty years.
It was only in June, 2017 that McCarrick’s crimes finally caught up with him. The Archdiocese of New York had received an accusation of abuse of a minor that had taken place in the 1970’s; an independent review board deemed it credible and substantiated. Abuse of a minor changed everything: This was a crime that could be prosecuted according to Church law. In the juridical process, McCarrick was found guilty of acts against the sixth commandment with minors and adults, and then laicized.
Now we are going back to the ugly stories, but we are not looking for Dorian Gray this time. In today’s report, drawn up from an exhaustive analysis of documents and lengthy interviews, we are looking at his enablers, his collaborators, and the system he worked so well. How did this go on for so long, while this unworthy man climbed the ecclesiastical ladder to its highest ranks?
One thing that becomes sadly clear is that the unambiguous reports victims made to seminary superiors and diocesan bishops were not acted upon. Investigations from Rome (when they were carried out) were stymied by "inaccurate and incomplete information." The contradictory or vague responses made accusations against McCarrick seem baseless, even slanderous "gossip, rumors." Pope John Paul trusted his old friend until his dying day. But in 2006, Pope Benedict learned new details of a previously discredited accusation (concerning an adult) that dated to the 1980's. McCarrick was "invited" to "spontaneously" resign, but not subjected to canonical trial or penalties. In 2012, more information came forward about another case (involving a priest, this time in 1991). An investigation was ordered but never conducted, leaving McCarrick unscathed. According to the report, Pope Francis (elected in 2013) was aware of only the basic outlines of the McCarrick case, presuming it to have been addressed by Pope Benedict. But when a credible accusation of abuse of a minor came in from New York, he acted with the kind of speed the Vatican is not equipped for, ordering a report that has taken over two years to come to completion.
In today's first reading, Paul speaks of us awaiting "the blessed hope, the coming of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ."
What do we do when we are without that kind of hope? Many of us may try to eke out as much from this life as we can, in whatever ways are within our reach. It can be tempting to look at the breathtaking wickedness done by Theodore McCarrick, or the complicity of bishops who failed to act, or blamed the accusers in response to Vatican investigations, or the damnable negligence of the Vatican diplomat who, in 2012, failed to carry out an investigation at all even though ordered to and feel somewhat holy by comparison.
Our own acts of hopelessness may be relatively puny, but perhaps only because we ourselves are so hesitant, uncreative, or unadventurous as sinners. Hans Urs von Balthasar once wrote (in Heart of the World, I think), "If there is a communion of saints, there is also a communion of sinners." We are all involved in sin in one way or another. Even venial sins are a cooperation with evil, a pulling away from communion with God that weakens the whole Church, down to the very last member, but when we are in the state of grace our prayers and acts of virtue strengthen the whole Church.
Theodore McCarrick is very old, and Judgment is coming for him and for all his enablers. Was he counting on his innocent image to cover for him forever? He has done tremendous harm, though no one can know why or know his state of soul. But we can, and must, pray for him and make sacrifices for his soul. Jesus Christ died to save even the likes of him.
We can, and must, pray for those who (whether naively or through self-interest) dissembled, looked the other way or joked about McCarrick’s peculiar charisma with handsome young men and deep-pocketed donors.
We can, and must, above all, pray for all those who fell prey to this breathtakingly manipulative man. They carry a heavy cross, but thanks to them, Pope Francis has put in place new regulations for dealing not only with the abuse of minors, but also the "me too" cases in which people with authority intimidate those subject to them (whether by career or by vocation) into doing their will. Because of those who had the courage to speak out come what may, the truth is setting us all free.
Pope Francis ordered the lengthy report to be compiled and released "for the good of the universal Church."
The McCarrick Report (461 pages) (pdf): http://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_rapporto-card-mccarrick_20201110_en.pdf The first fourteen pages are the summary history of the McCarrick case. The report itself contains some graphic testimony. A trigger warning is included in the introductory pages (probably a first in Vatican history).
Commentaries on the McCarrick Report (I will update this list as I find other commentaries that I think are helpful)
From Where Peter Is: https://wherepeteris.com/the-mccarrick-report-40-years-of-facts-laid-bare/
From Catholic News Agency: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/mccarrick-report-nj-bishops-gave-vatican-inaccurate-information-before-mccarricks-washington-appointment-84734
From Catholic World Report: https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2020/11/10/the-mccarrick-report-no-smoking-gun-but-massive-system-failure/
The third paragraph of this one really matches my impressions of the ex-Cardinal and his machinations, and helps explain in a small way how people who heard "rumors" seemed unable to take them more seriously: By Michael R. Heinlein: What Does the McCarrick Report Tell Us? https://www.osvnews.com/2020/11/12/what-does-the-mccarrick-report-tell-us/
On a related note (these links are updated frequently):
Powerful, but stick with him through the philosophy: Dr Larry Chapp, The McCarrick Report and the De Facto Atheism of the Church: https://gaudiumetspes22.com/2020/11/11/the-mccarrick-report-and-the-de-facto-atheism-of-the-church-2/
From Crux of the News: Cardinal Dziwisz Defends Himself in the Wake of the McCarrick Report: https://cruxnow.com/church-in-europe/2020/11/cardinal-dziwisz-defends-himself-in-wake-of-mccarrick-report/
From Catholic News Service, Fighting Abuse: What Pope Francis Has Done during His Pontificate: https://www.catholicnews.com/fighting-abuse-what-pope-francis-has-done-during-his-pontificate/
By John Allen, from just before the release of the report: A Reader's Guide to the McCarrick Report: Beware of Bad Guys, Smoking Guns: https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2020/11/a-readers-guide-to-mccarrick-report-beware-of-bad-guys-smoking-guns/amp/
By J. D. Flynn (Editor at Catholic News Agency, he is also a dad, and a Canon Lawyer with experience in clerical abuses cases): After McCarrick Report, Embracing the Cross: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/analysis-after-mccarrick-report-embracing-the-cross-95084
Experts, Abuse Survivors Share Reactions to McCarrick Report: https://osvnews.com/2020/11/19/experts-abuse-survivors-share-reactions-to-mccarrick-report/
3 comments:
Thank you,Sister Ann. Your blog posts have helped me negotiate through this terrible scandle whilst trying to educate my sons in our faith. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
I was very impressed with not only how beautifully you articulate the difficult facts of this man's life but also with the beauty of your analysis. I have my own despondency with the Church due to its almost universal acceptance of Republican shenanigans for the sake of their hypocritical lip service to pro-life. Clergy sex abuse, demonizing Democrats unjustifiably. Reading your blog makes me wish I could talk to you about it. I can't accept complicity with the evils the Church turns a blind eye to. It puts me at uncomfortable odds with the Church that I love. Please excuse me, Sister, for expressing my own disappointments. How can we hope for forgiveness of own sins if we judge the sins of others? And yet, sorrowfully, tearfully, Jesus have mercy, I do. Thank you for your beautiful post.
Thanks, Moxies. I am praying for the bishops and for the people who were sold a bill of goods with a "pro-life" label on it, and who can't seem to recognize that a bait and switch has left some of them holding the bag not only for a series of federal offenses, but for damaging the pro-life cause for years to come. I hope to post something soon incorporating some reflections I have been mulling over for the past year or so, along with the Pope's recent call for a culture of "caring." I think that could change much.
But, as always, "let it begin with me."
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