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November 14, 2020
Dear Friends in Christ,
Earlier this week, the Vatican Secretariat of State released a much anticipated 400 plus page report on the Holy See’s institutional knowledge and decision-making related to former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
I commend Pope Francis, Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the Vatican for the thoroughness and candor of the report and their outreach and careful attention to victim-survivors. This report is a necessary step in the further reform of the Catholic Church as it seeks to become more authentic, more holy and more faithful.
Learning from the significant mistakes that were made in McCarrick’s ecclesial rise and confronting those aspects of Church culture that contributed to the soil from which these mistakes sprang, is critical to making sure these or similar mistakes are never repeated. I have read and reread the executive summary of the report and intend, as time allows, to delve more deeply into the full report.
There are certainly aspects of the report that are deeply concerning and will no doubt be a source of anger and dismay for Catholics. That Church leaders, including John Paul II, knew of allegations about McCarrick before he was appointed to Washington D.C. and later made a cardinal, is an all too familiar aspect of a continuing story that has manifested a troubling consistency throughout the global Church.
The failure to put victim-survivors first, the failure to adequately investigate allegations against McCarrick, the failure to act prudently and wisely in assessing risk, and the role that a closed clerical culture contributed to this scandal are on full display throughout the executive summary.
Like many who have read the executive summary, I have some main takeaways I would like to briefly share with our community. First, as I referenced above, an insular clerical culture continues to harm the Catholic Church as it often reflexively seeks to avoid accountability and maintain power. Many Catholic leaders, including those at National Leadership Roundtable, have advocated for a co-responsibility model of Church governance, among other needed reforms, where the talents and voices of lay leaders are effectively and robustly integrated into ecclesial governance.
Second, the lack of a victim-centered response to clergy abuse and attendant cover-up has done great harm to victim-survivors and the broader Church. A victim-centered response is the only true path forward to greater accountability and healing.
Third, notwithstanding the McCarrick report’s treatment of how McCarrick’s fundraising prowess or the attempt to preserve the institutional Church from scandal may have influenced the decision to not formally investigate these allegations ought not, given the history of the Church’s handling of clergy abuse, be minimized.
Fourth, other matters of alleged episcopal malfeasance and/or misconduct need to be dealt with in a similarly rigorous and transparent manner. For example, many in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, including young adult Catholics, have repeatedly called for the just and transparent resolution of the matter of multiple allegations of misconduct against former Archbishop, John Nienstedt.
Finally, notwithstanding the disturbing details in the McCarrick report and all too familiar patterns of clericalism it conveys, the fact that this painstakingly thorough and transparent report has been released is for me a sign of hope. As we have seen in our Archdiocese, change of culture is indeed possible onto greater justice and healing. The anti-abuse summit in Rome, Vos Estis and the McCarrick report are steps forward. The verdict on real institutional change has not yet been delivered and will only be measured through concrete and consistent acts of accountability, transparency and responsibility from Church leaders.
Please join me in praying for all victim-survivors and for greater integrity in the Catholic Church.
Fr. Daniel Griffith