The Vatican's McCarrick report: a timeline of events
ROME — Theodore McCarrick had a nearly six-decade-long career as a priest, bishop and cardinal before revelations about his sexual abuse of young men led to his removal from the priesthood in 2019.
To help prepare for the expected Nov. 10 release of the Vatican's report on how the disgraced ex-cardinal was able to rise through the ranks of the American hierarchy, NCR has prepared the following timeline of some of the major events in McCarrick's career.
May 31, 1958:
Theodore McCarrick is ordained a priest by New York Cardinal Francis Spellman.
1965-69:
McCarrick serves as the president of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico. He is made a monsignor by Pope Paul VI in 1965.
1969-71:
Spellman recalls McCarrick back to New York, where the young monsignor serves first as an associate secretary of education for the archdiocese, and then as the cardinal's personal secretary.
About 1971 through about 1980:
During this period, James Grein alleges that McCarrick repeatedly abused him while Grein was in his teenage years. In a July 19, 2018 New York Times report, Grein said he and McCarrick would go on trips and spend nights in hotel rooms together, where McCarrick would touch Grein sexually.
May 1977:
Pope Paul VI appoints McCarrick as the titular bishop of Rusibisir and an auxiliary bishop of New York.
Nov. 19, 1981:
Pope John Paul II names McCarrick as the founding bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey.
1984:
The Metuchen Diocese buys a beach house for McCarrick in Sea Girt, New Jersey. In a July 16, 2018 report, the New York Times details rumors that McCarrick would invite seminarians to that beach house for sleepovers.
May 30, 1986:
Pope John Paul II names McCarrick as the fourth archbishop of Newark, New Jersey.
1994:
Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan, the Vatican's representative in the U.S., reports rumors about McCarrick's behavior with seminarians to New York Cardinal John O'Connor. In an October 2018 interview with Catholic News Service, Cacciavillan said a woman who called him in 1994 was worried there could be a "media scandal" during Pope John Paul II's 1995 visit to the U.S.
Cacciavillan says O'Connor conducted an inquiry and found "no obstacle" to John Paul II's plan to visit Newark as part of his journey to the U.S.
Nov. 2000:
Fr. Boniface Ramsey, a former faculty member at Newark's Immaculate Conception Seminary, writes to Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, the Vatican's representative in the U.S. Ramsey raises concerns about McCarrick's behavior with seminarians.
In a September 2018 Catholic News Service interview, Ramsey reveals he only got a brief response from the Vatican to his letter in October 2006.
Nov. 21, 2000:
Pope John Paul II names McCarrick as the fifth archbishop of Washington, D.C.
Feb. 21, 2001:
Pope John Paul II creates McCarrick a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
2004:
The Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey, receives at least three unspecified complaints against McCarrick. The diocesan communications director, Erin Friedlander, reveals receipt of the complaints in an Aug. 24, 2018 interview with Catholic News Service, saying each was investigated at the time and reported to local authorities.
Friedlander says the Dioceses of Metuchen and Trenton and the Archdiocese of Newark paid $53,333.34 in one non-public settlement and $100,000 in another non-public settlement. The second settlement was made with a former priest who says he was abused by McCarrick. That priest was later barred from ministry after admitting to his own separate sexual misconduct.
April 2005:
McCarrick participates in the conclave that elects Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI.
May 16, 2006:
Pope Benedict XVI accepts McCarrick's resignation as the archbishop of Washington upon the cardinal's reaching the age 75.
Aug. 29, 2009:
McCarrick presides over the graveside burial service for U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery.
June 2015:
Fr. Boniface Ramsey, now the pastor of St. Joseph's Church Yorkville in New York City, writes to Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley to raise concerns about McCarrick's trips with seminarians during the 1990s.
In a July 2018 statement to the Boston Globe, O'Malley says he had never personally received the letter, which he says was handled "at the staff level." In an August 2018 interview with Catholic News Service, Ramsey says he wrote to O'Malley because of the cardinal's position as the head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
July 28, 2016:
Richard Sipe, a clergy abuse survivor advocate and psychotherapist, writes to San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy. Without providing evidence, Sipe lists about a dozen priests and bishops, including McCarrick, that he says had abused children.
In an Aug. 17, 2018 statement to NCR, McElroy says that upon receiving Sipe's letter he had asked the psychotherapist for corroborating evidence of the claims. "The limitations on [Sipe's] willingness to share corroborating information made it impossible to know what was real and what was rumor," says McElroy.
June 20, 2018:
The Archdioceses of Newark, New York, and Washington and the Diocese of Metuchen each announce that an allegation was made against McCarrick from his time as a priest in the Archdiocese of New York, and that the archdiocese's review board had found the allegation "credible and substantiated."
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin delegates New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan to investigate the matter further, and instructs McCarrick to suspend his ministry as a priest while the inquiry is under way.
Newark Cardinal Joseph Tobin also reveals that McCarrick had previously been accused of sexual misconduct with adults in Newark and Metuchen, and that two of those allegations resulted in settlements.
July 28, 2018:
McCarrick renounces his position in the College of Cardinals. He is the first U.S. prelate ever to do so, and the first global prelate since French theologian Fr. Louis Billot left the college over a political disagreement with Pope Pius XI in 1927. The Vatican says Francis received the resignation request, accepted it, and ordered McCarrick to a life of prayer and penance.
Oct. 6, 2018:
Pope Francis orders a "thorough study of the entire documentation" present in the Vatican's archives regarding McCarrick's career.
Feb. 16, 2019:
Pope Francis confirms the removal of McCarrick from the priesthood, following the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's determination that the former hierarch had been 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."
Winter Appeal 2023
To our friends,
2023 has been a long year with many ups and downs for us all. As we close out the year, we at SNAP hope that you are feeling like you are on your way to being healthy, fulfilled, and happy. This past year has brought both successes and challenges. Thanks to the support you have shown in the past, we’ve been able to celebrate the good days and weather the stormy ones. Now, we are once again asking for your support as we work to support survivors new and old as we ‘Move SNAP Forward.’
At SNAP we are proud to have hosted a very well-attended conference in August 2023. This event allowed us to gather friends, survivors, advocates, and allies for a weekend of camaraderie and connection. We were so happy to be able to welcome many first-time attendees to gather in person and are already looking forward to the next conference.
To strengthen our movement for justice, healing, and prevention, SNAP will be expanding our peer support and providing more volunteer opportunities in the coming year. Through this great work, we are ensuring survivor voices are represented as we work for significant change that will benefit children and survivors.
Right now, survivors worldwide are getting the help they need from SNAP, and more and more reach out to us daily, but we need your help to keep those programs going and get our volunteers the training they need to thrive.
Your tax-deductible gift to SNAP can help offset the cost of our important mission. If you are not in a position to contribute, you can still support us by sharing this letter with those who can. As we continue to fight for survivors across the globe, your donation or sharing the great work SNAP does will help us continue our work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and prevent abuse.
Your donation ensures SNAP will be there for those who need us more than ever!
Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director
Showing 2 comments