The archbishop of Washington “has no plans to resign” amid fallout from Tuesday’s release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report that alleges more than 300 Catholic priests abused more than 1,000 children dating back to 1947, a spokesman for the archdiocese told the Washington Examiner.
Cardinal Donald Wuerl spent 18 years as the bishop of Pittsburgh, from 1988 to 2006, before he became archbishop of Washington. His actions are described in a 1,356-page report, which credits Wuerl with removing some priests from their parishes after they were accused of sexual abuse, but criticizes him for allowed others to return to parish work. Wuerl himself was not accused of abuse in the report.
When asked Wednesday by Fox 5 whether he would resign, Wuerl said the church response to allegations now is very different from how they were handled decades ago.
“In my efforts, from the time that I reached Pittsburgh on through to today, I have tried to my very best to deal with this whole question of allegations against a priest,” he said. “Now remember, we’re talking about a long spectrum of time — so how we dealt with things in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s is different than the way we would today.”
[Opinion: Cardinal Wuerl, coward and alleged enabler of child molestation, downplays Church sex abuse scandal]
Wuerl defended his actions Wednesday, saying the grand jury investigation showed he acted with “diligence, with concern for the victims and to prevent future acts of abuse.”
He told Fox 5 he thinks he did “everything I possibly could” to stop the abuse.
The report indicates otherwise, stating that Wuerl approved several priests who were accused of sexual misconduct to transfer to other parishes. In the case of William P. O’Malley, the priest continued to sexually abuse children after Wuerl allowed him back into the ministry.
