city of the Vatican (AP) – the Pope Francisco accepted Friday the resignation of the Cardinal of Washington, Donald Wuerl, once Archbishop of was involved in two major scandals of encubrimient or sexual abuse and that lost the support of many of its faithful, reported the Vaticano.Sin embargo, according to a letter published by the office of Wuerl, Francisco asked Wuerl to remain temporarily in charge until a replacement is found. He hinted that the Cardinal had unfairly become a scapegoat and was victim of the growing indignation among the Catholic faithful by abuse scandals. The apparent reluctance of the Pope to dismiss Wuerl is proof of strained personal decisions that has been forced to take in dealing with the global scandal that has implicated some of his advisers and closest allies, among them the Church hierarchs in United States, Belgium, Honduras, Chile and Australia.
Wuerl, who will turn 78 in November, is the prelate of higher rank to fall in the scandal affecting the Church then that his predecessor in the Archbishop of Washington Theodore McCarrick, was forced to resign as cardinal on charges that he abused of the m Enos two minors with adult seminarians.
Photo: AP a report of a research published in August on sexual abuse in the Diocese of Pennsylvania accused Wuerl of help protect some of the priests who abused minors during his time as Bishop of Pittsburgh, between 1988 and 2006. Simultaneously, Wuerl faced a widespread skepticism at his insistence that knew nothing about the years of alleged abused part of McCarrick.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Pontiff accepted the resignation of Wuerl as Archbishop of Washington, but did not name his replacement. In his letter, the Pope asked him to continue in office of interim form until a new Archbishop.
At first, the cardinal shrugged off the scandal and insisted on its good reputation, but with the passage of time came to the conclusion that could not continue at the head of the Archdiocese.
“Photo: AP in his letter accepting the resignation, the Pope said, calling for the retirement, Wuerl had placed the interests and unity of his congregation to their own ambitions, as they must all pastors.” “You have sufficient elements to justify their actions and distinguish between which means conceal crimes or not face problems, and make some mistakes”, wrote the Pontiff. “However, their nobility has led him to not choose this form of Defense. That is why I am proud and thank you.” Wuerl had presented his resignation to Francisco almost three years ago, when he turned 75, the normal age of retirement for bishops. But Francis kept him in office, as they tend to make the potatoes with the healthy bishops with pastoral priorities shared.
Photo: AP Wuerl has not been charged with any crime but his name appears several times in the report, detailing cases in which allowed priests accused of abuse were reassigned or regain their positions.
The cardinal apologized for the damage caused to the victims but defended its efforts to combat abuses by the clergy. In this note: Vatican City Pope Francisco Cardinal Wuerl sexual abuse
