Pope Francis declines to comment on allegations of sexual abuse cover up in DC
In the midst of an already contentious visit to a country ripe with anger over neglected abuses within the Catholic church, Pope Francis declined to address the contents of a letter released Sunday morning alleging that he knew about sex abuse allegations against former Washington, D.C., archbishop Cardinal Theodore McCarrick for years and didn’t take proper action.
The 11-page letter, penned by former Vatican ambassador to the U.S. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, was published on two conservative websites often critical of the pope. It alleges that both Pope Francis and Pope Benedict knew that McCarrick — who resigned from his D.C. post in July after he was accused of abusing adults and minors — was a “serial predator.”
