The disgraced former cardinal and archbishop of Washington who spent decades moving in the highest circles of the Catholic Church before being found guilty in a Vatican investigation of sexually abusing both minors and adults has died at the age of 94.
A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington on April 4 shared a statement with the <em>Catholic News Agency (CNA)</em> in which Cardinal Robert McElroy, the <a href="https://thecatholicherald.com/cardinal-mcelroy-a-critic-of-trump-installed-as-archbishop-of-washington/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">recently installed Archbishop of Washington</mark></a>, confirmed the death of Theodore McCarrick on 3 April. McCarrick, who was reportedly suffering with dementia, had been living in a care facility in rural Missouri.
“Today I learned of the death of Theodore McCarrick, former Archbishop of Washington. At this moment, I am especially mindful of those who he harmed during the course of his priestly ministry. Through their enduring pain, may we remain steadfast in our prayers for them and for all victims of sexual abuse,” McElroy <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/263183/former-cardinal-theodore-mccarrick-dies-at-94"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">told</mark></a> <em>CNA</em>.
Ordained a priest in 1958, the New York-born McCarrick rose through the ranks of the US Church throughout the mid- to late-20th century, notes <em>CNA</em>. During his episcopal tenure he was an auxiliary bishop of New York, then led the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey; the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey; and later Washington, DC.
A key and powerful figure in the US Church, with significant influence also in Rome, he was a leading participant in the development of the 2002 Dallas Charter and the USCCB Essential Norms, which established procedures for handling allegations of sexual abuse concerning priests. In 2018, reports of McCarrick’s abuse, grooming and harassment of seminarians burst into the public domain amid a nationwide reckoning on clerical sexual abuse.
A Vatican investigation in 2019 found McCarrick guilty of numerous instances of sexual abuse, and Pope Francis laicised him in February of that year. The following year, the Vatican published a lengthy report on McCarrick, critiquing the “institutional knowledge and decision-making” regarding the former cardinal and the way in which he continued to be promoted despite rumours of using his position of power to abuse others.
In addition to the Vatican investigations, McCarrick faced numerous criminal charges. However, a Massachusetts state district judge ruled in 2023 that McCarrick was not mentally competent to stand trial for the criminal sexual abuse charges brought against him, <em>CNA</em> notes.
As a result, a criminal case against McCarrick in Wisconsin was suspended in January 2024 after a psychologist hired by the court found McCarrick was not fit to stand trial.
<a href="https://thecatholicherald.com/disgraced-former-cardinal-mccarrick-deemed-not-competent-to-stand-trial-in-abuse-case/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">RELATED: Disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick deemed not competent to stand trial in abuse case</mark></a>
<em>Photo: Then Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington, speaks during a news conference with US senators and national religious leaders at the US Capitol regarding refugees, urging US decision makers <em>to engage in policymaking and not 'fear-mongering'</em>, Washington, DC, USA, 8 December 2015 in Washington. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.)</em>
