In September of 2018 Carlo Maria Viganò, the former Vatican ambassador to the United States, penned a letter accusing Pope Francis of a cover up of the sexual abuse by Archbishop McCarrick. Pope Francis has since launched a deeper investigation on Archbishop McCarrick and his resignation in Washington in 2006.
This news comes as no surprise with shows such as the Netflix popular series, The Keepers, that addressed a mass cover up of sexual abuse and murder in Baltimore, Maryland, the mass resignation from Chilean Bishops amid the countries own sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, and the current trial that lies ahead for Australian bishop Philip Wilson amid his own sexual abuse scandal and cover up.
The deeper investigation will include a thorough study of archival documents to determine how McCarrick climbed the church hierarchy despite allegations mounted against him. Accusations came to light in 2006 of McCarricks’ unholy behavior within the church, during which it was Pope Francis’ predecessors Pope Benedict XVI and John Paul II who were the ones who most likely dealt with the earlier forms of this scandal.
Pope Francis has already addressed victims and apologized on behalf of the Catholic Church, and is making strives to understanding how these cases have become an epidemic within the clergy. He has called for change within the Church’s system.
Pope Francis’s popularity fell sharply among U.S. Catholics after the recent scandal, and victims of the sexual abuse from the Catholic Church have grown impatient with his manner of handling the case. While critics feel that he is not doing enough to protect and assist those that have been affected by the sexual abuse. Such a scandal will likely taint the papacy and Pope Francis’s reign for years to come.