Struggling to contain one of the most serious crises of his papacy, Pope Francis met Thursday in Rome with leaders of the American Catholic Church, the epicenter of a rapidly escalating clergy sex abuse scandal.
DiNardo, of the archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, requested the meeting with Pope Francis as the Catholic Church in the United States faces clergy sex abuse scandals on several fronts. Spokespeople said DiNardo is not available for comment.
DiNardo, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, requested the meeting with Pope Francis as the Catholic Church in the United States faces clergy sex abuse scandals on several fronts.
DiNardo had asked for Thursday’s papal meeting in a public letter in August following allegations that a former top American cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, had sexually abused seminarians and an altar boy. McCarrick has denied the accusations about the altar boy and has not responded to the allegations about the seminarians.
Those allegations, as well as an explosive letter from a formal papal diplomat, have raised serious questions among senior church leaders about why McCarrick was allowed to rise through the church’s ranks as well as who knew about the sordid accusations against him.
Those reports come on top of a 900-page investigative report released last month by a grand jury in Pennsylvania that found more than 300 priests had sexually abused more than 1,000 children in six dioceses in the state since 1947, often while church leaders covered up the crimes.
In DiNardo’s August letter, he said the bishops’ executive committee had three goals: opening an investigation “into the questions surrounding” McCarrick; opening “new and confidential channels” for reporting complaints about bishops’ misconduct; and advocating for more effective ways to resolve future complaints.
“We have already begun to develop a concrete plan for accomplishing these goals, relying upon consultation with experts, laity, and clergy, as well as the Vatican,” DiNardo wrote on August 16. “In addition, I will travel to Rome to present these goals and criteria to the Holy See, and to urge further concrete steps based on them.”
Some of the steps DiNardo is seeking – such as an “apostolic visitation,” an investigation into McCarrick led by the Vatican – require Vatican approval. DiNardo has said lay people should be involved in the investigation as well.
The US bishops next meet as a body in November in Baltimore, where they are expected to debate and vote on DiNardo’s plans.