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Against the backdrop of a ruinous clergy abuse scandal, U.S. Catholic bishops have voted down a resolution encouraging the Vatican to release all documents related to its investigation of allegations of misconduct by Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick.
During the final day Wednesday (Nov. 14) of the general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore, Bishop Earl A. Boyea Jr. of Lansing, Mich., proposed the resolution aimed at making the Vatican’s investigation of the now-resigned former Washington archbishop more transparent. After about 30 minutes of discussion, bishops and archbishops participating in the assembly defeated the resolution by a 137 to 83 vote. A list of how each bishop voted on USCCB resolutions was not make public, as per rules of the assembly.
New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond, who has served as secretary of the USCCB, was not available for comment Thursday and it was unclear how he voted on the resolution. An archdiocese spokeswoman said Aymond will be filing a report on the conference upon his return to New Orleans.
Aymond is among several dozen bishops of the 196 bishops in the U.S. to have released the names of clergy members in their respective dioceses credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors over the past several decades. Aymond said he did so “for the sake of the victims, the survivors, for their healing, for our transparency and to pursue justice.”
Aymond thought long and hard before releasing the names
The defeat of the USCCB measure came near the end of the annual meeting of the nation’s Catholic bishops, which featured an agenda heavily focused on the clergy abuse scandal. The three-day gathering opened with an announcement of a Vatican request that any cogent actions designed to increase the accountability of bishops be put aside until after a February meeting of church leaders from around the world called by Pope Francis to address clergy sex abuse.
Th USCCB agenda originally included proposals to create a lay commission to receive complaints against bishops and the formation of a code of conduct for bishops regarding sex abuse. After tabling those proposals, some bishops – under pressure from parishioners and priests in their dioceses to show they are serious about attacking the problem – expressed the desire to make some sort of a unified statement on the subject.
During open sessions of the assembly, bishops vented their concern about the damage to the church caused by revelations of McCarrick’s allegeded misconduct. The former cardinal was suspended, then forced out after charges surfaced that he sexually abused minors and seminarians. His resignation from the College of Cardinals was accepted by Pope Francis in July. An investigation by the Vatican is underway. McCarrick has denied the allegations.
Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, the USCCB president, said he has heard from thousands of Catholics miffed about the recent abuse cases and “the one thing that nags at everyone is the Archbishop McCarrick issue. It just seems to be ubiquitous. This is one that needs to be addressed,” the Washington Post reported.
Boyea introduced his resolution Wednesday. It read: “Recognizing the ongoing investigation of the Holy See into the case of Archbishop McCarrick, be it resolved that the bishops of the U.S. Conference for Catholic Bishops encourage the Holy See to release soon all the documentation that can be released consistent with canon and civil law regarding the allegations of misconduct of Archbishop McCarrick.”
“This is not going to solve everything,” Boyea said, describing his resolution as “one little task” that all of the bishops could do to address the crisis.
Before the resolution came up for discussion, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, N.J., recited an Oct. 6 communique announcing the Vatican’s intention to investigate the case against McCarrick, who rose from a priest in the Archdiocese of New York to become archbishop of Washington and a member of the College of Cardinals.
The Vatican, in the communique, said Pope Francis opted to combine information from an ongoing McCarrick investigation in New York “with a further thorough study of the entire documentation present in the Archives of the Dicasteries and Offices of the Holy See regarding the former Cardinal McCarrick, in order to ascertain all the relevant facts, to place them in their historical context and to evaluate them objectively,” the Catholic News Agency reported.
About a dozen bishops came to the microphone to weigh in on Boyea’s resolution. Some said many Catholics had expected bishops at the assembly to take concrete steps to address clergy abuse, expressing disappointment that the Vatican had stymied such action.
Archbishop Alexander Sample, of Portland, Ore., said the resolution would show the Vatican that American bishops are serious about the issue of clergy abuse and efforts to hold church leaders accountable.
“It (the resolution) reflects what we’re hearing from our people,” Sample said. “They want transparency.”
Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago said he felt the resolution was vague and ambiguous and questioned whether it would end up being more restrictive of the investigation than what the Vatican intended.
“To release all documentation that can be released with canon and civil law? What does that mean?” he said.
Boyea admitted that it would be up to the Vatican to release what can be released, adding “We’re making it clear that we want something done.”
Bishop Steven Biegler of Cheyenne said he also objected to the resolution’s wording. “This is a statement of distrust” of the Vatican, he said.
Bishop Gerald Kicanas, former bishop of Tucson, Ariz., and currently apostolic administrator to Las Cruces, sided with the opponents, saying he sees no purpose to the resolution.
“If anyone is listening they hopefully realize that there is a sense of outrage and betrayal (among American bishops) at the situation of McCarrick,” Kicanas said. “I don’t think that the statement adds anything to that.”
