The Vatican published findings from its two-year investigation into former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick yesterday. McCarrick was a prominent member of the Catholic Church who rose to become the Archbishop of Washington, DC, but was defrocked in 2019 following an investigation that determined he had sexually abused adults and children. The release comes amid an effort to increase transparency in the church, including a decision by Pope Francis to lift the “pontifical secrecy” rule for sex-abuse cases last year.
Extra: The Catholic Church has faced ongoing fallout from sex-abuse related lawsuits in the Catholic Church, with at least 20 dioceses (out of the 145 in the US) filing for bankruptcy protection since 2004.
