The highest-ranking Catholic official to have been accused of sexual abuse in the United States is not competent to stand trial, a Massachusetts district court judge ruled Aug. 30.
The ruling frees 93-year-old former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick from a criminal trial, at least in Massachusetts.
The case, however, has put a broader spotlight on the closure of Catholic schools across the country, a rise in woke ideology in the church, a substantial drop in seminarian enrollment, and the Pope’s continued stand against women in the priesthood.
C.J. Doyle, Executive Director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, told The Epoch Times he is concerned about the future of the church.
“We are definitely seeing its struggle with the long-term impact of sins by some of our leaders,” he said, calling the former cardinal a “posturing hypocrite.”
“It is a pity that this fiend will not be brought to the bar of justice, but he awaits, in the not-too-distant future, a higher judgment,” Mr. Doyle said.
The former cardinal has been accused of sexually abusing 14 minors, including one at least as young as 10 years old, and eight seminarians in four states. Despite allegations dating back to the 1970s, it wasn’t until 2021 that criminal charges were brought against him.
Despite a trail of now-publicized correspondence and documents exchanged between church leaders evidencing the cleric’s alleged abuses, the church was slow to act.
In 2019, Mr. McCarrick became the most senior church official to be laicized, or defrocked, for sex crimes.
In 2020, the Vatican published a 449-page report on the decision entitled “Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick.”
According to the report, Pope John Paul II knew of the allegations when he made Mr. McCarrick a cardinal, a rank second only to the Pope.
The Holy See is the central government of the Catholic Church.
Mr. McCarrick was the Archbishop of Washington when he was made a cardinal in 2001.
The criminal case brought against him in Massachusetts was initiated by Wellesley police, based on allegations he repeatedly sexually assaulted a boy whose family considered the cleric a friend.
According to the criminal complaint, one of the first assaults took place at the wedding reception of the boy’s older brother in 1974. The boy, 11 at the time, was told by his father to have a “talk” with Mr. McCarrick, who was a monsignor at the time, about his “mischievous behavior at home” and not wanting to attend church on Sundays.
According to the report, Mr. McCarrick led the boy into a small room, closed the blinds, and began fondling his genitals while telling him “he needed to go to confession” and “saying prayers to make“ the boy ”feel holy.”
The victim told police that he was later sexually molested by McCarrick multiple times because his father told him to “listen to the priest and “do what he tells you.”
In April of this year, the Wisconsin attorney general and a county district attorney filed criminal charges against Mr. McCarrick for encounters involving an 18-year old in 1977.
Mr. McCarrick has yet to stand trial in Wisconsin.
On Wednesday, Dedham District Judge Paul McCallum ruled that the former cardinal’s mental health had deteriorated beyond his ability and dismissed the charges.
Judge McCallum made the ruling following the testimony of forensic psychologist Dr. Kerry Nelligan.
Dr. Nelligan said Mr. McCarrick has advanced dementia and lacks the ability to retain information.
Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of Bishops Accountability, which globally tracks sexual crimes by clergy of all religions, told The Epoch Times that Judge McCallum’s dismissal of the charges against Mr. McCarrick was a “big disappointment” and that it’s unfortunate criminal charges weren’t filed earlier.
Mr. McCarrick still remains the subject of multiple lawsuits filed by alleged victims in New Jersey and New York, where he served as Archbishop in various archdioceses.
Attorney Jeff Anderson, who represents alleged victims of Mr. Carrick in the civil lawsuits, told The Epoch Times that had the Catholic church acted earlier, Mr. McCarrick would have already stood trial and “likely be serving a life sentence.”
Mr. Anderson, who has represented other victims of clergy abuse in the Catholic Church, said that in 1984, the mother of one of the victims sent a letter to the Pope and all 221 cardinals of the Catholic Church detailing the abuses against her son.
Mr. Anderson, also said he twice deposed Mr. McCarrick, including as recently as 2020, and said he was “impressively lucid for a man his age.”
According to numerous reports, Mr. McCarrick, who was awarded an honorary degree from Georgetown University in 2004, was known to garner charitable contributions for the church by hobnobbing with celebrities and high-ranking politicians. Mr. Doyle (no relation to Anne Barrett Doyle) pointed out that the cleric frequently rubbed elbows with prominent pro-abortionist Democrats.
He asserted that Mr. McCarrick was “a fawning protector of pro-abortion politicians, like the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy.”
Kennedy, a self-touted Irish Catholic, received a 100 percent negative rating from the National Right to Life Committee, and a 100 percent positive rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Mr. Doyle is among practicing Catholics who have grown critical of the church for embracing a woke ideology that contradicts Catholic beliefs.
In June, the Massachusetts Catholic prep school Fontbonne Academy hosted as its graduation speaker a lesbian who self-described as “a big ol' dyke.”
Campus Reform and the Young America’s Foundation in July called out Marquette University for offering “gender-affirming voice therapy” to students.
According to the group, the since-deleted page advertising the therapy, stated that “individuals may request our services to create a voice, along with other aspects of communication, that align with their gender identity and/or gender expression.”
In 2021, Students for Life released the results of a year-long study that showed 784 Christian colleges and universities that have ties to Planned Parenthood.
In the meantime, more than 200 Catholic schools nationwide have shut down in the past several years, with a new round announced recently. One of them was the Matignon High School in Cambridge, Massachusetts., where the real estate value has been esteemed at $32 million.
The announcement that the 75-year-old school would be closing was made in May. The property was placed on the market on Aug. 29.
Mr. Doyle told The Epoch Times, that he is concerned there may come a point when the Catholic church will run out of money and real estate to pay off court settlements for the crimes of church leaders.
According to Bishop Accountability, 32 U.S. Catholic dioceses and religious orders have filed for bankruptcy protection in the last two decades in the wake of sex abuse scandals against the church.
While the group points out that Catholic nuns were also abusers, the organization’s data shows that male clergy are the dominant perpetrators of sexual abuse against children whose family are involved in the churches.
The group also includes reports of women alleging abuse by male clergy while in the convent to become nuns.
In the meantime, the Catholic church is contending with a 50 percent decline in enrollment in its seminaries for new priests over the past decade. Other denominations are also seeing a decline in new clergy.
According to the Association of Theological Schools, 57 percent of its member schools have reported a significant decline in enrollment.
In the meantime, many churches remain resistant to female leadership.
While Pope Francis has expressed tolerance and compassion for gay marriage and recently said he may be open to priests marrying—something long-considered taboo—he has repeatedly affirmed his opposition to women being priests.
In February, The Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee voted to expel six churches from its membership for allowing them to have female pastors.
The percentage of priests accused of sexual abuse is around four percent, according to a John Jay College study covering 1950-2002.
