Cardinal Kevin Farrell, head of the Vatican’s family and laity office, told the Associated Press he is livid he was kept in the dark because he would have done something about it.
He spoke as the US church hierarchy came under fire from ordinary American Catholics, outraged that McCarrick’s misconduct with men was apparently an open secret in some US church circles.
Pope Francis accepted McCarrick’s resignation as cardinal on Saturday and ordered him to live a lifetime of penance and prayer pending the outcome of a canonical trial.
In an open letter on Tuesday, a contributor to the conservative Catholic magazine First Things urged Catholics to withhold diocesan donations to the US church until an independent investigation determines which US bishops knew about McCarrick’s misdeeds – a “nuclear option” aimed at making the laity’s sense of betrayal heard and felt.
Some outrage has been directed at Cardinal Farrell, 71, who was consecrated as a bishop by McCarrick in 2001 and served as his vicar general in the archdiocese of Washington until McCarrick’s 2006 retirement.
Some Catholic commentators have speculated the Cardinal must have at least heard rumours that Catholic laity, students and professors at Catholic University in Washington and even some journalists had heard.
Cardinal Farrell lived with McCarrick, 88, and other priests and bishops in a converted school…
… Read More
—
Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.