Reporter, conducted an interview with Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C. Here's an excerpt:
elsewhere will mar the legacy of John Paul II.
“It puts a mar on the world in which the papacy of John Paul II governed the church,” said
McCarrick, who emerged as one of the most credible and effective spokespersons for the
American church during the crisis of 2002.
“Some 40 million Americans will have suffered some form of sexual abuse in their lives,”
McCarrick said. “Obviously if that’s true, this is a deep societal problem, and we are not alone.”
“The fact that it has infested the church and its priests is scary and agonizing for all of us,”
McCarrick said. “But the church is human and divine, and part of it has to find its life in the culture
that is around us.”
puts a mar on the world in which the papacy of John Paul II governed the church.” What does this sentence say? I
guess it says the scandals have marred the world, not the papacy! I guess it all depends on what the word "is"
means. After all, McCarrick is from Washington. The spinning, the bureaucratic rope-a-dope, is truly astounding.
And the truth shall make you free. Does McCarrick sleep well at night? Probably. Because he believes he's doing
the Lord's work. What a witness. Jesus must be crying.
Then the cardinal goes on to say, “Some 40 million Americans will have suffered some form of sexual abuse...so we
are not alone.” Here's a great example of denial's first cousin, minimization. In other words, it's bad, but
"everybody does it."
Note the the next sentence, “The fact that it has infested the church and its priests is scary and agonizing for all of
us.” In other words, I'd rather agonize, than act. I'm not responsible for it. It's infectious. Like SARS, it's
airborne. Let's hope somebody else finds a cure.
Is this the Catholic Church or is it the bizzaro world that Jerry Steinfeld told us about?
Here's the entire interview:
at the North American College, where he had attended the diaconate ordinations. He’ll be back next
week for the 25th anniversary of John Paul’s pontificate Oct. 16, and for the consistory in which 31
new cardinals will be created Oct. 21.
We spoke about John Paul II’s life and legacy.
McCarrick said that he distinguishes between the pope’s impact ad intra and ad extra. Inside the
church, he said, John Paul “captured the real spirit of Vatican II,” on issues such as collegiality,
dialogue with the modern world and the proper role of the laity as agents of transformation in the
world. Outside the church, McCarrick said, John Paul has been a relentless champion of the dignity of
the human person, which has made him an advocate of human rights, of religious freedom, of
ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue.
McCarrick, who is fluent in Spanish, has long been interested in the developing world. He praised the
pope’s track record on social justice issues.
“On labor, on third world debt, on migration, on war and peace, the pope has been right there,” he
said. “He has insisted that every human being has basic rights, some of which are not yet recognized
by our society.” As a member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, McCarrick said he has
watched the pope “demand that organs of the church face these problems.”
In this context, I asked about Latin America, where many remember John Paul’s crackdown on
liberation theology, which was itself an effort to align the Catholic church with popular struggles for
justice.
“The main thrust of liberation theology was to empower the poor, and the Holy Father not only
supports that, but he has galvanized the church to support it,” McCarrick said. “He drew the line at
Marxism, but he has been so strong in favor of the poor.”
McCarrick agreed that had breaking liberation theology been John Paul’s only aim, he never would
have promoted Latin American prelates such as Cardinal Claudio Hummes of Sao Paolo, Brazil, or
Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras — moderates who sympathized with the aims of liberation
theology, if not always its means.
Give John Paul’s passion for justice, I asked McCarrick how he explains the alienation of some
Catholic women, especially in the developed world, from this pope — despite his efforts to reach out,
from his 1988 apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem to naming women to head his delegations to
international events.
“It may be the frustration of over-expectations,” McCarrick said, referring to the question of women
priests. “These expectations were really based only on dreams and hopes, not on basic premises of
what the Holy Father believes, what we believe, is the theology of the church.”
McCarrick, who named a woman chancellor in Washington and has appointed women to significant
positions of responsibility in every diocese he’s led, said he wouldn’t be surprised if John Paul II, in
his heart, would like to have women priests.
“He’s never said, ‘I don’t want women priests,’” McCarrick said. “He’s said, ‘I can’t do it.’ He’s
prayed, studied, and concluded that he can’t call women to the priesthood.”
I asked about another group that sometimes seems alienated from this pontificate: theologians who
complain about a “chilling effect.”
“I don’t have statistics, but I suspect there may be as many theologians who feel the Holy Father has
done the right thing as those who feel he has acted brusquely,” McCarrick said. “The latter may
simply have more access to the media.”
I noted that while John Paul has achieved much of what he set out to accomplish, from the bloodless
fall of Communism to reawakening the evangelical dimension of the papacy, one area where his
record is much more mixed in the struggle against what he calls a “Culture of Death.” Despite the
pope’s vocal opposition, polls show substantial majorities of Western Catholics support birth control
and divorce, and 12 European nations now have some form of civil registration for same-sex
partnerships. How does McCarrick explain John Paul’s failure to be persuasive on these issues?
“We are living in a world that since the 1960s has moved away from moral absolutes,” he said.
“When that happens, it effects the most intimate, personal things we do.”
Unavoidably, I asked McCarrick if the recent sexual abuse scandals in the United States and
elsewhere will mar the legacy of John Paul II.
“It puts a mar on the world in which the papacy of John Paul II governed the church,” said
McCarrick, who emerged as one of the most credible and effective spokespersons for the American
church during the crisis of 2002.
“Some 40 million Americans will have suffered some form of sexual abuse in their lives,” McCarrick
said. “Obviously if that’s true, this is a deep societal problem, and we are not alone.”
“The fact that it has infested the church and its priests is scary and agonizing for all of us,” McCarrick
said. “But the church is human and divine, and part of it has to find its life in the culture that is around
us.”
Finally, I reminded McCarrick that when he was made a cardinal in February 2001, at the age of 70,
he told us in the press that he never expected to participate in a conclave, meaning the election of a
pope. He was suggesting that John Paul could live until McCarrick turned 80 in 2011.
Does he still feel that way?
“There’s always the possibility,” he said. He noted that the pope has ups and downs in his illness, and
that sometimes he appears to be rejuvenated.
“I’m praying for the Holy Father to have the strength and wisdom to guide the church,” he said.