This week, prosecutors disclosed their expert's findings to the judge, who will ultimately rule on the once-powerful American prelate's ability to face charges that he abused the boy at a wedding reception at Wellesley College in 1974.

McCarrick has maintained that he is innocent, and pleaded not guilty in September 2021. He was also charged in April with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old man in Wisconsin more than 45 years ago.

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The once-powerful American Cardinal was expelled from the priesthood for the assault, which allegedly occurred at a wedding reception in Massachusetts.

Pope Francis laicised (defrocked) McCarrick in 2019 after a Vatican investigation determined he sexually abused minors, as well as adults.

Mr McCarrick did not speak during the hearing, at which the court entered a not guilty plea on his behalf, set bail at $5,000, and ordered him to stay away from the victim and have no contact with minors.

Berated by abuse survivors and demonstrators as he approached the courtroom in a walker, they shouted: "Shame on you! Prince of the church!"

McCarrick is the only US Catholic cardinal, current or former, to be criminally charged with child sex crimes.

McCarrick's fall began in 2017 when a former altar boy came forward to report the priest had groped him when he was a teenager.

The following year, the New York Archdiocese announced that Mr McCarrick had been removed from ministry after finding the allegation to be "credible and substantiated". In addition, two New Jersey dioceses revealed they had settled claims of sexual misconduct against him in the past involving adults.

McCarrick was one of the most visible Catholic Church officials in the US. He served as the spokesman for fellow US bishops when they enacted a "zero tolerance" policy against sexually abusive priests in 2002.

A two-year internal investigation looked into McCarrick's conduct. The investigation found that three decades of bishops, cardinals and popes downplayed or dismissed reports of sexual misconduct.

Correspondence showed they repeatedly rejected the information outright as rumour and excused it as an "imprudence."

The investigative findings released last year pinned much of the blame on Pope John Paul II. He appointed McCarrick Archbishop of Washington, DC, despite having commissioned an inquiry that confirmed McCarrick slept with seminarians.

The alleged victim will be represented by lawyer Mitchell Garabedian. Garabedian has spent his career representing child sex abuse victims — including those abused by Catholic prelates.

Garabedian's litigation against Catholic officials was depicted in the 2015 film "Spotlight."

The next court appearance for Mr McCarrick's is set for Oct 28.

Sources

National Catholic Reporter

Religion News Service

BBC

Barely challenged, the US clergyman (pictured) ascended the Catholic hierarchy to become a cardinal - a prince of the Church.

He used personal contacts to help him along the way. When challenged, he protested his innocence.

The newly-published report notes the lack of Church officials reporting and investigating accusations against McCarrick.

It was during Pope St. John Paul IIs papacy that McCarrick was appointed firstly archbishop of Washington and then cardinal.

The Vatican says John Paul probably overlooked the abuse rumours about McCarrick: they'd known each other a long time and McCarrick strongly denied the rumours. It's also possible John Paul was influenced by his own experience in Poland with communist authorities making accusations to discredit the church.

However, rumours of McCarrick's conduct when he was a bishop, especially with young adult men and seminarians led the Vatican to stop promoting him.

They decided it would be "imprudent" for him to become archbishop of Chicago in 1997, of New York in 1999-2000 and, initially, of Washington in July 2000.

In June 2018 the Vatican suspended McCarrick from ministry after an investigation by the Archdiocese of New York found credible a charge that he sexually abused a teenager.

McCarrick resigned from the College of Cardinals in July 2018.

In February 2019 Pope Francis dismissed the ex-cardinal from the priesthood.

His dismissal followed a canonical process, which found him guilty of "solicitation in the sacrament of confession and sins against the Sixth Commandment with minors and with adults, with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power."

Francis initiated an investigation into how McCarrick was able to continue to rise through church ranks despite the repeated rumors, anonymous letters, allegations and even settlements with alleged victims.

In August 2018, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, called on Francis to resign, claiming he had informed Francis of McCarrick's abuse in 2013. Vigano said top Vatican officials had known of McCarrick's abusive behavior for years.

The Vatican report summary released to the media says "No records support Vigano's account" of his meeting with Pope Francis about the ex-cardinal "and evidence as to what he said is sharply disputed."

Until the allegations about child sexual abuse were made to the Archdiocese of New York in 2017, "Francis had heard only that there had been allegations and rumors related to immoral conduct with adults occurring prior to McCarrick's appointment to Washington," it says.

"Believing that the allegations had already been reviewed and rejected by Pope John Paul II, and well aware that McCarrick was active during the papacy of Benedict XVI, Pope Francis did not see the need to alter the approach that had been adopted in prior years," the summary says.

In its s introduction the report says it is based on documents found at the Vatican and the US apostolic nunciature, plus interviews with over 90 witnesses, including survivors, cardinals, bishops and former seminarians.

Survivors contributions to the report were "fundamental," says Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of State.

Source

• The Tablet
• Image: Catholic News Service
• Image: Crux Now

The report's release comes days before the U.S. bishops gather virtually Nov. 16 and 17 for their annual meeting.

"On Tuesday, 10th November 2020, at 2 p.m. (Rome time), the Holy See will publish the report on the Holy See's institutional knowledge and decision-making process related to former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (from 1930 to 2017), prepared by the Secretariat of State by mandate of the Pope," Vatican officials said.

It added: "The same day, an hour before publication, a section of the document will be provided in advance to accredited journalists."

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That's how Monsignor Anthony Figueiredo, a former Vatican official and a longtime consultant for CBS News, described Viganò's "testimony," an 11-page dossier of accusations and innuendos that targeted the pope and nearly a dozen high-ranking Vatican prelates.

Msgr. Figueiredo, a priest from the Archdiocese of Newark (New Jersey) who has been living in Rome since 2006, immediately defended Viganò's credibility.

"I know him personally," he told CBS. "I know him as a man of great integrity, honest to the core. He's worked for three different popes, and [was] sent to a Vatican position, a diplomatic position as big as the United States, which means he's a trusted man."

The very bright and articulate Newark priest vouched for Viganò on Aug. 27, 2018, just one day after the former papal nuncio carefully coordinated with LifeSite News and the National Catholic Register to publish his 11 pages of accusations.

Taking Viganò's lead

Now nine months later Msgr. Figueiredo is back in the news. And how!

Following in the footsteps of his friend or acquaintance, Archbishop Viganò, the 55-year-old priest has become the latest clergyman with a public profile to blow the whistle on Church cover-up in the hierarchy.

He did so this past May 28 when he released - simultaneously through CBS and the Catholic publication, Crux - excerpts of personal correspondence with McCarrick, a man whom (you will see in a moment) he once considered a father figure and patron.

These carefully chosen excerpts reinforce claims made by Viganò and others that a number of high-ranking Church officials were aware that Benedict XVI had quietly placed restrictions on the former cardinal but they did nothing to enforce them.

Most notable among the accused is Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the recently retired archbishop of Washington. Wuerl has already denied any knowledge of sanctions.

But what's new in Figueiredo's cache of documents is that McCarrick himself claims in letters, which the monsignor relayed to officials in Rome, that he discussed his restrictions with Wuerl. But, as the now defrocked McCarrick has been proven to be less than truthful on a number of other matters, it's only his word against Wuerl's.

Why release the documents now?

Msgr. Figueiredo has posted the documents - and warns that he may post others - on a special website, called… the "Figueiredo Report." Despite the self-referential name of the site, he offers noble reasons why he's become a whistle-blower.

"My actions in releasing this report at this time are encouraged by the Holy Father's motu proprio Vos Estis Lux Mundi… based on the overriding principle that it is imperative to place in the public domain, at the right time and prudently, information that has yet to come to light and impacts directly on allegations of criminal activity, the restrictions imposed on my now laicized former archbishop, and who knew what and when," he says.

Figueiredo expresses his "unswerving affection, loyalty and support for Pope Francis" and claims he wishes "only to present facts that will help the Church to know the truth."

He says he's going public now after making "attempts since September 2018 to share and discuss these [documents] with the Holy See and other Church leaders."

The implication, of course, is that such attempts have been fruitless.

"The hierarchy's abuse of authority and cover up, in their various and serious manifestations, have inflicted consequences upon me, too," the priest reveals, expressing regret that he's harmed others by "seeking consolation in alcohol." He says therapy is now helping him "to embrace a life of sobriety."

In fact, on Oct. 1, 2018 - just five weeks after defending Archbishop Viganò for publishing his screed - Msgr. Figueiredo was arrested for causing an accident while operating a motor vehicle in the state of inebriation. He ended up pleading guilty for drunk driving and hitting a car driven by a pregnant woman.

Greg Burke, who was the head of the Holy See Press Office at the time, said Figueiredo had been recalled to his home diocese. It certainly must have been a low point for a man who had been living permanently in Rome since 2006.

Washing his hands of McCarrick

It is only natural that, having lived in Rome and followed ecclesiastical affairs and politics for more than 30 years, I get just a little skeptical when a cleric has a sudden conversion and starts airing the Church's dirty laundry. There is often more than what meets the eye.

Without calling into question Msgr. Figueiredo's integrity or motives, there are a number of aspects of his personal history and vocation that should push any journalist to scrutinize more carefully the full reasons for his latest actions.

This priest knows an awful lot more than what he's shared so far in this parsimonious and careful selection of correspondence with Theodore McCarrick.

He's known the former cardinal since at least the early 1990s and the two men became very close in the ensuing years.

Long before falling into disgrace, McCarrick was perhaps Figueiredo's most influential and well-connected Church patron.

Now, any connection to McCarrick is Figueiredo's greatest liability. It is understandable why the priest would want to distance himself from the man he once held in such high esteem.

McCarrick is the first person Figueiredo mentions in the list of acknowledgments found in his doctoral dissertation, which was published by the Gregorian University Press in 2001.

"I am indebted to God for Theodore Cardinal McCormick, who, as Archbishop of Newark, conferred upon me the gift of the priesthood and assigned me to graduate studies in Rome," Figueiredo wrote in 2000 in the "acknowledgments" page of his doctrinal dissertation.

"His Eminence has been a true 'father-in-Christ,' supporting me with his Christ-like care, confidence and correction," the priest wrote.

The Neocat connection

Figueiredo's path to ordination was through the Neocatechumenate Way, a dynamic but controversial post-Vatican II movement in the Church commonly called the Neocats. Born in Kenya, and originally from Goa, his family moved to England when he was three.

Upon completion of university studies in the UK, he "embarked upon a career in international banking in the City of London."

But according to a biographical sketch from a 2011 Church conference in the United States, Figueiredo "gave up his prestigious position" three years later and did missionary work "in places as diverse as New York, Los Angeles and Ethiopia."

The experience awakened his desire to become a priest.

It is not clear how he ended up in Newark, but it is certain that he attended the fledgling Redemptoris Mater Seminary that the then-Archbishop McCarrick had just allowed the Neocats to open in the archdiocese. Figueiredo was in the seminary's very first ordination class of 1994.

He says on his new website that he served as McCarrick's personal secretary from September 1994 - June 1995. That's only nine months. But he adds that he resumed assisting the former cardinal "in a secretarial capacity" when he moved to Rome.

Post-graduate studies, a Vatican job and time at the North American College

A little more than a year after ordination, Father Figueiredo did missionary work in Estonia with the Neocats. Afterwards, McCarrick sent him to Rome for post-graduate studies (1996-2000).

The young priest eventually earned a doctorate in dogmatic theology at the Gregorian University where he worked under the direction of the late Karl Becker SJ (d. 2015), a German theologian whom Benedict XVI made a cardinal in 2012.

Freshly minted with a prestigious degree in hand, Father Figueiredo then worked for six years (2000-2006) in Newark's diocesan seminary and the adjoining Seton Hall University, before returning to Rome to be a staffer at the now defunct Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" (2006-2011).

When he finished his job at the Vatican, where he was given the title "monsignor," Figueiredo was hired to direct the Institute of Continuing Theological Education for priests on sabbatical at the North American College (NAC) in Rome.

He left that position in 2014, but stayed on at NAC as an adjunct spiritual director for the seminarians.

It appears that his association with NAC came to a sudden halt at some point in the summer of 2016.

Despite being listed in the official 2016-2017 college catalogue as continuing in the post, Msgr. Figueiredo was no longer at the NAC at the start of that academic year.

Angling for another job at the Vatican

It is at this point where the monsignor's resume becomes murky.

Several people, all colleagues or associates with whom he's been engaged in various work and ministerial activities during his time here in Rome, have noted Figueiredo's determination to find a permanent job in the Eternal City.

But nothing materialized.

"He seemed like he was on the career track and then, all of a sudden, he was without a job," one said.

Figueiredo has gone to China each year for the past decade to give retreats to bishops. He says the annual appointments began in 2008 when he was still working at "Cor Unum" and went to Southern China on an earthquake relief mission on behalf of the Holy See.

"Cor Unum" was officially suppressed in January 2017, but it had already been merged some months earlier into what is now the Dicastery for Integral Human Development.

In regular speaking engagements from the past, especially in the United States, Msgr. Figueiredo has sometimes been described as a permanent consultor to the dicastery's section for migrants and refugees.

But, in fact, his relationship to that office lasted for only three months some two years ago.

"Msgr. Anthony Figueiredo worked with the new Migrants and Refugees section from approximately mid-February until mid-May 2017, and since then has had no relationship with the section. He was not a permanent consultor but a temporary staff-member," confirmed Father Michael Czerny SJ, that office's under-secretary.

Figueiredo also was a "special contributor" to the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), following his stint back at the Vatican. He also served as a sort of chaplain to EWTN, celebrating Mass with the staff every Friday morning in St. Peter's Basilica.

But the conservative network appears to have severed its working ties with him following his drunk driving arrest.

More recently the Newark priest has been writing for the British paper, Catholic Universe, which describes him as its senior Vatican correspondent.

La Croix International sent an email to Msgr. Figueiredo on May 29 requesting clarification about his canonical status, current ministerial assignment and whether he is still incardinated in the Archdiocese of Newark. As of now, he has not responded.

And the archdiocese has issued no public statements about him or his current status, either. It has merely published the Catholic News Service reporting his new whistle-blowing effort.

So for now there are as many - and perhaps even more - questions pertaining to Anthony Figueiredo as there are to the now-disgraced Christ-like father figure who ordained him 25 years ago.

• Robert Mickens is editor of La Croix International. He writes from Rome, Vatican City.

The truncated transcript of Francis's lengthy interview with Mexico's Televisa reporter, Valentina Alazaraki, claimed Francis said he didn't know anything about accusations of McCarrick's sexual abuse before the accusations became public last year.

What it omitted, was Francis's claim that he didn't remember former nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, telling him in 2013 of McCarrick's penchant for sleeping with seminarians.

Communications coordinator Andrea Tornielli says the discrepancy was due to the quick turnaround time given to translating the interview from Spanish into Italian.

The original Spanish was considered the text of reference, he says.

Within minutes of being questioned about the Italian transcript, the full and corrected version of the quote appeared on the Italian site of the Vatican news portal, Vatican News.

In the interview Francis told Alazaraki he would have immediately spoken out if he had known about McCarrick.

When he did find out last year, he acted against McCarrick both before and after the Vatican process.

Before the process, he removed him from the College of Cardinals.

After it, when he was found guilty of solicitation in the Sacrament of Penance and "sins against the Sixth Commandment with minors and with adults," he dismissed him from the clerical state.

Vigano's allegations have been used by Francis' conservative critics to attack him.

The allegations appear to show Francis disregarded information that McCarrick preyed on seminarians and instead rehabilitated him from the restrictions Pope Benedict XVI imposed in 2008.

As a result, Francis' claim not to remember if Vigano told him about McCarrick now amounts to his defence against such criticism.

Last year, the Vatican communications office published a doctored photograph and a partial quote from a letter penned by retired Pope Benedict XVI that misrepresented its complete meaning. The then-prefect of the communications office had to resign as a result.

Source

• AP
• CNA
• America Magazine
• The Tablet
• Image: Zenit