The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) are preparing to meet in Cornwall Ontario for their annual plenary.
According to “Canadian bishops meet in city” two items on the bishops’ agenda are clerical sexual abuse and restructuring of the CCCB.
And according to the same article the keynote speakers for the gathering will be Bishop Paul Andre Durocher from the local diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the Cardinal Archbishop from the Archdiocese of Washington, USA.
Those following the Cornwall sex abuse scandal know a bit about Bishop Durocher. Few would know much about McCarrick.
Cardinal McCarrick receives ‘honourable’ mention in Randy Engel’s recently released and meticulously researched 1282 page blockbuster The Rite of Sodomy.
According to Engel “New York insiders glibly refer to McCarrick by his feminine name ‘Blanche’” and notes that it has long been known in certain cirlces that McCarrick has “a penchant for handsome young seminarians.”
Engles adds in the footnotes
The charge that Cardinal McCarrick is a homosexual prelate who preys on seminarians was publicly made by whistleblower priest Father James Haley in December 2005.
A little further digging reveals that others have also alleged that they too were invited as seminarians to share the Cardinal’s bed – an allegation which the Archdiocese of Washington has apparently denied.
Furthermore Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is identified as an “active homosexual” in an amended civil lawsuit filed 10 January 2006 by Father Robert Hoatson, a priest of the Newark diocese, against, amongst others, Archbishop John Myers (Newark), Cardinal Edward Egan (New York) Bishop Howard Hubbard (Albany). (The suit alleges that the latter three are “active homosexuals” who aided and abetted priests known to be pederasts.) McCarrick is not named as a defendant in the legal action.
Hoatson’s suit was first filed 13 December 2005 by John A Aretakis. According to the suit Father Hoatson (the plaintiff) – and I quote
upon information and belief, alleges the defendants MYERS, EGAN and HUBBARD are actively homosexual, as well as Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., who the plaintiff previously worked for and under…
Hoatson immediately explains, as follows, that while he has personal knowledge of the above the issue of homosexuality itself is not at stake, but what is at stake is the fact that this homosexual behaviour has compromised the bishops’ ability to deal with clerical sexual predators.
The plaintiff has personal knowledge of this and states that consensual, adult and private sexual behavior by and amongst these defendants is not an issue or at issue. The issue for the plaintiff is that this behavior has compromised the defendants’ ability to supervise and control predators, and has served as the reason for the retaliation and harm repeatedly done to the plaintiff and the plaintiff’s career in exposing predators and helping victims of clergy sexual abuse.
At this time it seems that the defendant bishops are attempting to have the suit dismissed and, only weeks ago (26 September ’06) Father Hoatson filed an affidavit asking the judge to recuse himself citing the judge’s real or perceived conflict of interest.
Where it all goes, who knows? But I personally can’t help but wonder what Cardinal McCarrick can offer to the Canadian bishops’ deliberations on clerical sexual abuse? And I certainly question the CCCB’s wisdom in inviting a cardinal who is currently and publicly engulfed in his own scandal to be a key note speaker.
Enough for now,