The disgraced former cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, removed from the clerical state in 2019 after revelations of credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors and misconduct against adults, has died in Missouri. He was 94.
McCarrick's attorney confirmed his death April 4 to OSV News. According to multiple sources, he died April 3.
McCarrick was once one of the most powerful clerics in the Catholic Church, serving as the archbishop of Newark, N.J., from 1986 to 2000 and archbishop of Washington from 2001 to 2006. In June 2018, McCarrick was removed from ministry at the direction of the Vatican due to a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a teenager investigated by the Archdiocese of New York.
It was eventually revealed that McCarrick had been the subject of sexual abuse allegations spanning the decades of his high-profile clerical career, prompting an extensive Vatican investigation.
Allegations that McCarrick had sexually abused both adult and child victims over decades marked the start of a new chapter in the Catholic Church's clerical abuse crisis, and led to his resignation from the College of Cardinals a month later.
In July 2018, The New York Times detailed allegations that McCarrick abused two seminarians in the 1980s that resulted in abuse settlements from the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey, and a separate allegation from the first child McCarrick baptized, who detailed instances of abuse over 20 years, beginning when the boy was 11.
The public allegations led to revelations that McCarrick had been accused over the years of sexual misconduct involving adults, including against seminarians and young priests, some of which had resulted in legal settlements between dioceses and victims.
At the time he was removed from ministry, then-Cardinal McCarrick maintained his innocence and said he did not have recollection of the alleged abuse.
In July 2018, Pope Francis accepted McCarrick's resignation from the College of Cardinals and suspended him from public ministry. The pope ordered him to a "life of prayer and penance" until the accusations against him were examined in a canonical trial.
In October 2018, the Vatican said a preliminary investigation into an allegation against then-Archbishop McCarrick had already occurred, and the results would be combined with a further study of documents.
Pope Francis confirmed McCarrick's removal from the priesthood in February 2019 after he was found guilty of "solicitation in the sacrament of confession and sins against the Sixth Commandment with minors and with adults, with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power."
In November 2020, the Vatican issued an extensive report on McCarrick that detailed his rise through church ranks despite the repeated rumors, anonymous letters, allegations and even settlements with alleged victims.
The report revealed that the former prelate "was able to rise up the Catholic hierarchical structure based on personal contacts, protestations of his innocence and a lack of church officials reporting and investigating accusations," according to a Catholic News Service report on its contents.
In a statement issued Friday, Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, where McCarrick served for 14 years, said he was "keenly aware of the trauma" the news of McCarrick's death may "reignite" for his victims.
"Having listened to many survivors, I recognize the deep pain and betrayal they have endured," the statement said. "I continue to offer my prayers in support as they navigate their journey toward healing."
McCarrick had faced sexual abuse-related charges in Massachusetts and Wisconsin filed in July 2021 and April 2023, respectively. In August 2023, a Massachusetts judge dismissed one of the cases, deeming the former cardinal unable to stand trial after receiving a medical report from prosecutors which agreed with the earlier defense report that McCarrick was suffering from dementia. Last year, a Wisconsin judge followed suit and suspended the case there.
McCarrick was ordained a priest in 1958 for the Archdiocese of New York by Cardinal Francis J. Spellman. He became an auxiliary bishop of New York in 1977 under Cardinal Terence J. Cooke, for whom McCarrick had served as a personal secretary. In 1982, McCarrick was installed as the first bishop of the newly created Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey, and in 1986, he became archbishop of Newark, New Jersey.
In January 2001, then-Archbishop McCarrick was installed as archbishop of Washington and was elevated by Pope St. John Paul II the next month to the rank of cardinal. In 2006, then-Cardinal McCarrick turned 75, and, as required by canon law, he resigned as archbishop of Washington, but continued to fundraise and socialize with church and political power brokers.
He was succeeded in Washington by Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, who resigned from the role in 2018 amid the McCarrick scandal and scrutiny of his own handling of clerical abuse allegations as described in the Pennsylvania grand jury report.
At the time of his death, McCarrick was reportedly living at the Vianney Renewal Center in Dittmer, Missouri, which the Archdiocese of St. Louis describes as "a residential faith community for priests and brothers who wish to live their vocation at its core of prayer and fraternity" operated by the Servants of the Paraclete.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
