While most in the mainstream media are going out of their way to avoid holding Pope Francis and the Catholic Church accountable for the rampant sexual abuse of children, Jake Tapper stands out as a notable exception.
I ask you for prayers for me, for forgiveness for my errors in judgment, for my inadequacies, as well as for the grace to find, with you, ways of healing, ways of offering fruitful guidance in this darkness. @Cardinal_Wuerl https://t.co/2xZuFz8jcp
— DC Archdiocese (@WashArchdiocese) September 3, 2018
More from the Archdiocese of Washington:
Expressing again his apologies for the terrible actions that have hurt so many and referencing his August 30 letter to priests of the archdiocese, the Cardinal continued, “I ask you for prayers for me, for forgiveness for my errors in judgment, for my inadequacies, as well as for the grace to find, with you, ways of healing, ways of offering fruitful guidance in this darkness. Our prayers, yours and mine, are also for the whole Church – the Body of Christ – wounded by the shame of these egregious actions. You too bear a deep wound because you love the Church and do not know what is coming next. I wish I could wipe away all of this pain, confusion and disillusionment, but this is simply not possible. But we can do whatever it takes to help move this Church closer to the pathway that leads us from this darkness.”
Talk about whitewashing. Tapper isn’t having any of it:
Respectfully, which errors in judgment? Signing off on a $900k payment to two children preyed upon by a priest, a settlement that required their silence? Hiring a doctor to testify for a predator priest and blame the victim? Helping that predator priest get out of prison early? https://t.co/K52QmnHmGf
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 3, 2018
Here’s a thread in which I outline many more of @Cardinal_Wuerl’s “errors in judgment” that, according to the PA grand jury, helped protect predator priests, cover up their crimes, and shuffle them from parish to parish. https://t.co/GHDX5zCMTi
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 3, 2018
Here’s Tapper’s thread from last month:
Cardinal Wuerl is mentioned throughout the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report as helping to cover up the predatory behavior of priests and indeed to help them go parish to parish. This week he made numerous comments defending himself that are contradicted in the report. https://t.co/nmLKI49e2w
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2018
2/ Father Richard Zula and Father George Zirwas of the Pittsburgh diocese were in a group of priests who, the grand jury found, "manufactured child pornography" and "used whips, violence and sadism in raping their victims."
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2018
3/In 1988, Zula was arrested and charged with over 130 counts related to child sex abuse. In 1989, Wuerl authorized a $900,000 confidential settlement between the diocese and the family of two of Zula's victims that included a hush agreement.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2018
4/ The diocese under Wuerl's leadership also hired a doctor who worked with Zula in an attempt to lessen his sentence with a statement that the grand jury found "blamed the child victim rather than the adult criminal.” The diocese also helped Zula get early release from prison.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2018
5/ Wuerl recently denied that he helped move priests around parish to parish quietly. He refuted having done so, saying, "that wasn't, that wasn't our process."
It was absolutely the process with Father George Zirwas.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2018
6/ The diocese of Pittsburgh, where Wuerl started as Bishop in 1988, "was aware of complaints against Zirwas for sexually abusing children as early as 1987" and continued to receive "additional complaints" between 1987 and 1995, according to the grand jury report.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2018
7/ This includes complaints in 1988 and 1991 while Wuerl was bishop of the diocese. The grand jury found, in contradiction to Wuerl’s claims, that "Zirwas continued to function as a priest during this period and was reassigned to several parishes."
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2018
8/ Wuerl told CBS that when “there were allegations, we dealt with them immediately."
Not true.
The predatory behavior of Father Ernest Paone dated back to the 1960s and he was shuffled from parish to parish all over the country for decades, according to the grand jury report.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2018
9/ In 1991, Wuerl approved moving him to the diocese of Reno-Las Vegas, even though according to the report, the Pittsburgh diocese knew of Paone's past. And in 1996, Wuerl refrained from sharing everything the church knew about Paone's past with the diocese of San Diego.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2018
10/ In August 1994, Wuerl was sent a confidential memo notifying him of a new complaint against Paone. "Wuerl responded by dispatching letters notifying the relevant California and Nevada Dioceses of the 1994 complaint," the report states.
BUT…
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2018
11/ …the report adds, "However, Wuerl did not report the more detailed information contained within Diocesan records. The Diocese did not recall Paone; nor did it suspend his faculties as a priest. To the contrary, Paone continued to have the support of the Diocese."
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2018
12/ Wuerl’s defenders note that he had disciplined some priests, pushed back against an attempt by the Vatican to reinstate a predator priest, and that he wrote to the Vatican that parishioners had a right to know if their priests had been accused of predatory behavior.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2018
13/ Grand jury: “In spite of Wuerl's statements to the Vatican, the clear and present threat that Paone posed to children was hidden and kept secret from parishioners in three states. Wuerl's statements had been meaningless without any action." -end-
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2018
Cardinal Wuerl was complicit in the sexual abuse of children. That’s not “errors in judgment”; that’s a crime.
https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/1036657766306328577
I don’t always agree with your politics but you got this spot on. Keep up the good work
— GT (@its_GTdawg) September 3, 2018
Thanks, Jake.
— James Hasson (@JamesHasson20) September 3, 2018
Thank you, Jake.
— Vicki Levengood (@VickiLevengood) September 3, 2018
Thank you Jake for continuing to ask important questions.
— Edem (@Demeileen) September 3, 2018
Jake, thanks for not letting this go.
— Jude Patnaude (@PatnaudeJude) September 3, 2018
Good work. Keep it up!
— James Houston (@Atticus1971) September 3, 2018
Go get him Jake. No mercy.
— Maury Rempel (@mauryrempel) September 3, 2018
Hopefully Pope Francis’ reckoning won’t be too far behind.
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