By CatholicVote | Created at 2025-04-04 20:55:59 | Updated at 2025-04-05 00:47:44
3 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // Theodore E. McCarrick, the former cardinal laicized after the Vatican found him guilty of sexually abusing minors and adults, died April 3 in Missouri. He was 94.
The disgraced cardinal died at the Vianney Renewal Center in Dittmer, Missouri, where he had been living in recent years, according to the Washington Post. His death was confirmed by Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, the current archbishop of Washington, D.C.
Ordained to the priesthood in 1958, McCarrick advanced rapidly through the Church’s hierarchy. He served as archbishop of Newark beginning in 1986, and in 2000 was appointed to lead the Archdiocese of Washington. Pope John Paul II elevated him to the College of Cardinals the following year.
His rise came despite serious concerns about his conduct. In 1999, Cardinal John O’Connor of New York privately warned Vatican officials of allegations against McCarrick, including that he was known to invite seminarians to sleep in his bed.
Pope Francis formally removed McCarrick from the clerical state after a canonical trial found him guilty of abusing both minors and adults, including offenses such as solicitation in the confessional and abuse of power. The 2019 decision made him the first U.S. cardinal ever to be laicized.
McCarrick also became the highest-ranking Catholic cleric in the United States to face criminal charges for sexual abuse.
A landmark Vatican report in 2020 laid bare how key figures in the Church may have overlooked or downplayed serious concerns. The document scrutinized the actions of three popes, who, despite being warned, proceeded with McCarrick’s appointments.
