CBC news update From Oct 6, 20018
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/pope-francis-cardinal-theodore-mccarrick-child-abuse-allegations-1.4853548

Pope orders 'thorough study' of Vatican documents in McCarrick abuse case

Theodore McCarrick resigned in July after separate review found claims of sexual abuse were credible The Associated Press · Posted: Oct 06, 2018 11:49 AM ET | Last Updated: October 6

Theodore McCarrick, seen here in April 2002, was made a U.S. cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. Pope Francis accepted his resignation in July amid allegations that McCarrick, now 88, sexually abused a teenager nearly five decades ago during his time as a priest in the Archdiocese of New York. (Danilo Schiavella/EPA-EFE) Pope Francis has authorized a "thorough study" of Vatican archives into how a prominent American cardinal advanced through church ranks despite allegations that he slept with seminarians and young priests, the Vatican said Saturday.

The Vatican said it was aware that such an investigation may produce evidence "that choices were taken that would not be consonant with a contemporary approach to such issues." But it said Francis would "follow the path of truth, wherever it may lead."

The statement did not address specific allegations that Francis himself knew of sexual misconduct allegations against now ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 2013 and rehabilitated him anyway from sanctions imposed by Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Francis reaches out to then-Cardinal Archbishop emeritus Theodore McCarrick at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 23, 2015. Francis accepted McCarrick's offer to resign from the College of Cardinals on July 28, 2018. (Jonathan Newton/Associated Press) Francis has said he would not say a word about those allegations, lodged by a retired Vatican ambassador.

Depending on the scope of the investigation, Francis' actions may be found to have been inconsistent with what he now considers unacceptable behaviour.

"Both abuse and its coverup can no longer be tolerated and a different treatment for bishops who have committed or covered-up abuse in fact represents a form of clericalism that is no longer acceptable," the statement said.

Seminarians wrote about concerns The Vatican knew as early as 2000 that seminarians had complained about McCarrick pressuring them to sleep with him. The Rev. Boniface Ramsay, a professor at a New Jersey seminary, wrote a letter to the Vatican in November 2000 relaying the seminarians' concerns after McCarrick was named archbishop of Washington.

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St. John Paul II still went ahead with the nomination and made McCarrick a cardinal the following year. McCarrick resigned as Washington archbishop in 2006 after he reached the retirement age of 75.

Francis accepted McCarrick's resignation as a cardinal in July after a U.S. church investigation determined that an allegation that he groped a teenage altar boy in the 1970s was credible. Since then, another man has come forward saying McCarrick molested him when he was a young teen and other men have said they were harassed by McCarrick as adult seminarians and young priests.

Australian bishop sentenced to a year's detention for child sex abuse coverup The scandal has created a crisis in confidence in the U.S. hierarchy, since it was apparently an open secret that McCarrick, now 88, would invite seminarians to his New Jersey beach house, and into his bed.

Faced with a loss of credibility, U.S. bishops announced they wanted a full-scale Vatican investigation into how McCarrick was able to rise through the ranks, despite his misconduct.

The Vatican statement Saturday made clear an investigation would take place.

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From CBC news update Oct 7, 2018

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/vatican-cardinal-marc-ouellet-pope-francis-theodore-mccarrick-1.4854001

Canadian Vatican official defends Pope against 'blasphemous' coverup claims

Marc Ouellet issues scathing letter that ends Vatican silence on ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick Nicole Winfield · The Associated Press · Posted: Oct 07, 2018 11:58 AM ET | Last Updated: October 7

Cardinal Marc Ouellet said Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano is just trying to score ideological points with Francis' critics on the Catholic right. (Andrew Medichini/Associated Press) Quebec-born Cardinal Marc Ouellet issued a scathing rebuke Sunday of the ambassador who accused Pope Francis of covering up the sexual misconduct of a prominent American cardinal, saying his claims were a "blasphemous" political hit job.

Six weeks after Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano threw the papacy into turmoil over his claims about ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the Canadian head of the Vatican's bishops office said there was no evidence in his files backing Vigano's claims that Francis annulled any sanctions against McCarrick.

The letter from Ouellet was issued Sunday, a day after Francis authorized a "thorough study" of all Vatican archives into how McCarrick rose through the ranks of the Catholic Church despite allegations he sexually preyed on seminarians and young priests. Pope to meet U.S. bishops amid sex abuse scandal, allegations of Vatican coverup The letter, addressed to Vigano but identified as an open letter to the faithful, marked an extraordinary end to the official Vatican silence about Vigano's claims. In it, Ouellet both defended the pope and excoriated Vigano, asserting that the conservative cleric had used the scandal over sexual abuse in the U.S. to score ideological points with Francis' critics on the Catholic right.

Pope Francis, with the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Joseph Edward Kurtz, centre, and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, right, in 2015. (Andrew Medichini/Associated Press) "In response to your unjust and unjustified attack, dear Vigano, I conclude that your accusation is a political setup without any real foundation that could incriminate the pope, and I repeat that it has profoundly wounded the communion of the church," Ouellet wrote.

He said a review of his files showed there were no documents about any sanctions ever imposed on McCarrick by former popes and that it was "false" to suggest Francis had annulled any such measures.

Pope orders 'thorough study' of Vatican documents in McCarrick abuse case Ouellet did acknowledge that McCarrick had been "strongly exhorted" not to travel or appear in public, and to live a discreet life of prayer given rumours against him.

'Corrupted a generation' The McCarrick scandal has thrown the U.S. and Vatican hierarchy into turmoil, given it was apparently an open secret in some U.S. church circles that he would invite seminarians into his bed. Two men received settlements starting in 2005 from two New Jersey dioceses after they alleged McCarrick sexually molested or harassed them.

The Vatican was informed starting in at least 2000 about the seminarian complaints.

Francis accepted McCarrick's resignation as a cardinal in July after a U.S. church investigation determined that an allegation that he groped a teenage altar boy in the 1970s was credible. Since then, another man has come forward saying McCarrick molested him when he was a young teen and other men have said they were harassed by McCarrick as adult seminarians and priests.

Ouellet's letter marked the Vatican's first direct response to Vigano's 11-page denunciation Aug. 26 in which he accused two dozen Vatican and U.S. church officials of covering up for McCarrick, and demanded Francis resign for his role in the scandal.

Theodore McCarrick, seen here in April 2002, was made a U.S. cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. Pope Francis accepted his resignation in July amid allegations that McCarrick, now 88, sexually abused a teenager nearly five decades ago during his time as a priest in the Archdiocese of New York. (Danilo Schiavella/EPA-EFE) Vigano claimed he told Francis during a meeting on June 23, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI had sanctioned McCarrick to a lifetime of penance and prayer for having "corrupted a generation of seminarians and priests."

Vigano implied that Francis still rehabilitated McCarrick from the "canonical sanctions" and made him a trusted counsellor.

Vatican accepts resignation of U.S. cardinal accused of sex abuse Ouellet, however, noted that the June 23 meeting occurred as Francis was meeting with all his ambassadors for the first time and was gathering an "enormous quantity of verbal and written information" about the church.

"I strongly doubt that McCarrick concerned him to the degree you'd like to think, given he was an 82-year-old emeritus archbishop who had been out of a job for seven years," Ouellet wrote.

Ouellet said in all his meetings with Francis about bishop nominations, he never heard him refer once to McCarrick as a trusted counsellor. He said he couldn't believe Vigano had arrived at such a "monstrous" and "blasphemous" conclusion, given that Francis had nothing to do with McCarrick's career rise.

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He said he understood that Vigano might be bitter at the way his own career ended and his disagreement with Francis' policies. But he wrote: "You cannot end your priestly life in an open and scandalous rebellion that inflicts a painful wound" on the church and divides its people.

He urged Vigano: "Come out of your hiding place, repent for your revolt and return to better sentiments toward the Holy Father."