Since Pope Francis accepted the resignation from the College of Cardinals of Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, former cardinal and retired archbishop of Washington, on 28 July, after revelations of sexual abuse, responses by US Church leaders have come under scrutiny and criticism.
A 1 August statement by Galveston-Houston Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the president of the US bishops' conference, expressed “anger, sadness, and shame” for the “grievous moral failure within the Church” regarding McCarrick’s sex abuse involving young boys, seminarians, and priests. He announced the bishops’ conference would use its November annual meeting to discern "the right course of action" and acknowledged that the Church is suffering a crisis of sexual morality.
Within days Bishop Timothy L. Doherty of Lafayette, who chairs the bishops' child and youth protection committee, said “general prayers and apologies are necessary, but not sufficient” for victims of sexual abuse. He said that while he had never heard allegations against McCarrick, “there is evidence that various people made allegations and had reported them in the US and in Rome”. He asked: “What has gone wrong? We deserve to find out. If the news is damaging, we have to hope it will damage and then help to correct an allegedly corrupt process.” He felt there is now “renewed public inquiry about all of us bishops”.
Catholic actress and Hollywood celebrity Patricia Heaton sharply criticised the Cardinal DiNardo statement with a widely read and endorsed statement on Twitter, saying “the laity does not care how much shame you feel”. She felt that, “we want all those who perpetrated and covered up sexual abuse OUT”. Also, victims of abuse should not “come forward” but go directly to the police. “You had your chance to help; you failed,” she added. Her tweet captured the anger and frustration felt by many Catholic laity about the failure of policies adopted by the US bishops' conference after the 2002 Boston clergy abuse scandal and the shortcomings of clericalism.
However, last weekend Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington was proposing that the US bishops create a new high-level panel to receive and evaluate allegations of sexual misconduct by a bishop. They would then report to the papal nuncio. “We don't pass judgment,” Wuerl said of the US bishops' conference. “That has to go to Rome.”
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