Cardinal Wuerl's Side of the Story

Cardinal Donald Wuerl

There are always two sides to every story.  In his long-page testimony, Archbishop Vigano claimed that Pope Francis, Cardinal Wuerl, and several others knew that Cardinal McCarrick was sanctioned by Pope Benedict XVI.  However, Cardinal Wuerl has come out denying those allegations. According to Catholic News Agency dated August 25, 2018 (the bold is mine):

Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington has denied a report that he was informed about restrictions apparently placed by the Vatican upon his predecessor, Archbishop Theodore McCarrick.

“Cardinal Wuerl did not receive documentation or information from the Holy See specific to Cardinal McCarrick’s behavior or any of the prohibitions on his life and ministry suggested by Archbishop Vigano,” the cardinal’s spokesman, Ed McFadden, told CNA.

On Aug. 25, Archbishop Carlo Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States from 2011 to 2016, released a “testimony,” alleging that in 2009 or 2010, after receiving reports of habitual sexual misconduct on the part of McCarrick, Pope Benedict XVI had ordered that “the Cardinal was to leave the seminary where he was living, he was forbidden to celebrate [Mass] in public, to participate in public meetings, to give lectures, to travel, with the obligation of dedicating himself to a life of prayer and penance.”

In his testimony, Archbishop Vigano claimed that Cardinal McCarrick was staying at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary and was ordered to leave the seminary by Pope Benedict XVI after placing sanctions on him.  The jungle eagerly pounced on this information because they have an agenda.  The agenda is to discredit an demonize RMS and the NCW anyway they can without even looking at the other side of the story.

In an earlier news report dated July 24, 2018, Catholic News Agency reported (the bold is mine):

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is reported to have lived alongside a Maryland house of formation for members of a religious order whose founder has faced Vatican charges of sexual misconduct.

St. John Baptist de la Salle is located in Chillum, Md., adjacent to Washington, D.C. The parish is staffed by the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE), and the property serves as the headquarters of the community's Province of the Immaculate Conception........ 

Sources told CNA that Cardinal McCarrick lived with the IVE community at St. John Baptist de la Salle during his retirement, after residing for a period at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary of the Archdiocese of Washington. 

One source close to the Archdiocese of Washington told CNA that the cardinal had for a time an IVE brother in formation living in his residence, which was on the parish property but separate from the house of formation. 

An additional source also told CNA that McCarrick had young priest and seminarian assistants while living with the IVE, but did not comment on whether any seminarian resided with the cardinal. 

An Archdiocese of Washington spokesperson did not confirm those reports. The spokesperson told CNA that Cardinal McCarrick “made his own living arrangements for his retirement,” as well as his own arrangements for secretarial assistance.

Cardinal McCarrick stayed at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in the Archdiocese of Washington for a short period of time and then stayed at St. John Baptist de la Salle in Maryland during his retirement years.  There is no evidence showing that Cardinal McCarrick was told to leave RMS by then Pope Benedict XVI.  Apparently, he left on his own to settle elsewhere.  As a matter of fact, CNA reported in August 25, 2016 as to why the cardinal left RMS (the bold is mine):

While McCarrick is reported to have moved from Redemptoris Mater Seminary, McFadden said that “Cardinal Wuerl categorically denies that he was ever provided any information regarding the reasons for Cardinal McCarrick’s exit for the Redemptoris Mater Seminrary.”

A source close to the cardinal told CNA that Wuerl had the impression some issues had arisen when McCarrick left the seminary, but neither McCarrick nor the apostolic nuncio spoke with him about the matter. 

So, there may have been an issue between RMS and Cardinal McCarrick when he left the seminary.  This issue that rose between them remains unknown. For all we know, RMS had probably discovered that he was hitting on some of the seminarians, and RMS politely told the cardinal to leave.  But of course, the other side of the story are things the jungle would never report to its readers.  They simply tell their readers that a homosexual cardinal was staying at RMS, and then assume that RMS harbors child abusers.    

Now, you know the other side of the story.