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BALTIMORE (AP) — At a national assembly focused on the sex-abuse crisis, numerous U.S. Roman Catholic bishops called Wednesday for a formal repudiation of Theodore McCarrick, the ex-cardinal facing allegations of sexual misconduct over a long stretch of his career.
The bishops, nearing the close of their three-day meeting, have been striving to show their commitment to combating clergy sex-abuse even though the Vatican ordered them to delay votes on two key anti-abuse proposals.
While the abuse scandal has affected many dioceses nationwide, the bishops appeared to be most angered and embarrassed by McCarrick, who allegedly abused and harassed youths and seminarians over many years as he rose to be archbishop of Washington and a member of the College of Cardinals until his removal by Pope Francis in July.
Several investigations are underway to determine to determine who might have known about and covered up McCarrick's alleged misconduct.
"We have taken no official action to distance ourselves form the shameful behavior of one of our own," said Bishop Liam Cary, of Baker, Oregon. "What do people make of our silence?"
Bishop Michael Olson, of Fort Worth, Texas, noted with regret that McCarrick has not been defrocked and would have been eligible to participate in this week's assembly.
"He is not welcome," Olson said. "We should say that for his sake, and out of respect for those he has harmed."
As the bishops adjourned for lunch, it remained unclear what actions they might take regarding McCarrick and the two anti-abuse proposals that initially had been scheduled for votes on Wednesday. One would establish a new code of conduct of individual bishops; the other would create a nine-member special commission, including six lay experts and three members of the clergy, to review complaints against the bishops.
Leaders of the bishops' conference said the Vatican intervened to ensure that steps taken by the U.S. bishops would be in harmony with steps decided at a Vatican-convened global meeting on sex abuse in February. They also said more time was needed to vet aspects of the U.S. proposals that might conflict with church law.
Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, was among many bishops urging the assembly to find some way of endorsing the proposals despite the Vatican order of a delay.
"Frustration is a luxury I feel I can't afford," he said in an interview. "I wanted to offer a pathway forward for us to take up the discussion as a body, make some decisions ... but also say something to our people."
In other action, the bishops approved a pastoral letter condemning racism, the first time they have spoken as a group on that issue since 1979.
The final text was not immediately released because amendments were being added, but Catholic News Service reported on a draft version of the letter.
"Every racist act — every such comment, every joke, every disparaging look as a reaction to the color of skin, ethnicity or place of origin — is a failure to acknowledge another person as a brother or sister, created in the image of God," the draft said.
It also denounced racial profiling of Hispanics and African-Americans and decried "the growing fear and harassment" of people from Muslim countries.
The bishops also voted to endorse a campaign seeking sainthood for Sister Thea Bowman, a Mississippi-born descendant of slaves who became the first black member of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and — in 1989 — the first black woman to address a national meeting of the bishops' conference.
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Crary reported from New York.
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