IMAGE: CNS photo/Jaclyn Lippelmann, Catholic Standard
By Mark Zimmermann
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Addressing the clergy abuse crisis in
the church will require “wider lay engagement, more realized
accountability and evident transparency,” said Washington Cardinal Donald W.
Wuerl at the end of a Sept. 2 Mass in Washington.
In remarks
after Communion, at the installation Mass for a new pastor at Annunciation
Parish in Washington, Cardinal Wuerl said the church must follow a pathway to
holiness and bring “Christ’s renewing light” to the darkness of the
abuse crisis and the pain it has caused.
The way
forward must involve “a renewed commitment on the part of each priest to
do what in fact the vast majority of priests do so well every day. You and I
must continue to support them as they carry out their ministry that is such a
significant part of the healing.”
The cardinal
also stressed the importance of church accountability and engaging the laity in the wake of the resignation of retired Washington Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick over abuse allegations and the Pennsylvania grand jury
report documenting clergy sexual abuse against minors over the past seven
decades in six dioceses, including Pittsburgh, led by then-Bishop Wuerl from
1988 until his appointment as archbishop of Washington in 2006.
Since the
release of this report, Cardinal Wuerl has faced strong criticism and calls for
his resignation for his record in confronting clergy sexual abuse in the Pittsburgh
Diocese.
Following canon
law, the cardinal submitted his resignation to Pope Francis in 2015 when he
turned 75. The pope has not accepted it.
In an Aug.
27 letter to staff of the Archdiocese of Washington, Msgr. Charles Antonicelli,
vicar general and moderator of the curia, said that in the Diocese of Pittsburgh,
then-Bishop Wuerl reached out to abuse survivors, removed all priests with
credible claims of abuse against them, and was a leader in child protection.
At the end
of the Sept. 2 Mass, installing Msgr. Michael Mellone as pastor, Cardinal Wuerl said the prayers of Catholics are for the whole church
wounded by the shame of the actions that caused the abuse crisis. “You too
bear a deep wound, because you love the church — that’s why you’re here, and
you do not know what is coming next.”
He acknowledged
the “pain, confusion and disillusionment” that Catholics feel, and he
said he wished he could wipe it all away.
“As we
move forward, I hope to lead by action, not just by words,” he said, and
then quoted part of what he had written in an Aug. 30 letter to priests in the
archdiocese: “I ask you for prayers for me, for forgiveness for my errors
in judgment, for my inadequacies, as well as for the grace to find, with you,
ways of healing, ways of offering fruitful guidance in this darkness.”
Near the
end of his remarks, a man shouted: “Shame on you!” and stormed
out of church.
This
was right after the cardinal had asked the congregation to “hold
close in our prayers and loyalty to our Holy Father, Pope Francis.
Increasingly, it is clear that he is the object of considerable animosity.”
After the
man’s outburst, Cardinal Wuerl said he wished he could redo decisions that he had
made in his three decades as a bishop “and each time get it right.” He
encouraged people to join him in seeking God’s grace and mercy as the church
moves forward. He asked for their prayers for him, and for all those who were
abused and all those suffering in the aftermath of abuse.
“We do
all of this first in prayer, mindful that the source of our contrition, of our
healing, and of our pathway into the future is the victory Christ won for us on
the cross,” he said.
The
cardinal received applause at the end of his remarks.
– – –
Zimmermann
is editor of the Catholic Standard, archdiocesan newspaper of Washington.
– – –
Copyright © 2018 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.