A bombshell letter calling out Pope Francis for his chummy association with a cardinal known to have sexually abused seminarians also questions Cardinal Sean O'Malley's denial that he knew anything about the now-disgraced churchman's past.
"Regarding Cardinal Sean O'Malley, I would simply say that his latest statements on the McCarrick case are disconcerting, and have totally obscured his transparency and credibility," Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former papal nuncio to the United States, wrote in a letter published Saturday night. Vigano called on Pope Francis and many other high-ranking bishops to resign.
Cardinal Sean O'Malley says he didn't know about former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick's sexual abuse of teen-age boys and young-adult seminarians and that he never saw a letter from a New York priest three years ago describing McCarrick's troubling behavior.
"Allegations regarding Archbishop McCarrick's sexual crimes were unknown to me until the recent media reports," O'Malley said in a written statement Monday. "I understand not everyone will accept this answer given the way the Church has eroded the trust of our people. My hope is that we can repair the trust and faith of all Catholics and the wider community by virtue of our actions and accountability in how we respond to this crisis."
