Sayeed Muhammad: In a sign of repentance at a mass dedicated to victims of abuse, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington who was blamed for not doing enough to deal with pedophile priests in Pennsylvania, prostrated himself on Friday.
“Our prayers are for those who were assaulted by serious abuse of the clergy and the further indignity of an inadequate response,” said Wuerl, reports AFP.
Wuerl has said he plans to travel to Rome soon to meet Pope Francis to discuss his resignation.
“We must be prepared to do whatever is needed, including stepping aside. This action on my part is an essential aspect of the healing so that this archdiocesan Church we all love can move forward,” he wrote in a letter to the priests of Washington.
A sweeping grand jury report released in August revealed credible allegations against more than 300 predator priests, indentifying over 1,000 victims of child sex abuse covered up for decades by the Catholic Church in the state of Pennsylvania.
The report is said to be the most comprehensive, so far, into abuse in the US church, but while prosecutors have filed charges against two priests, the vast majority of crimes happened too long ago to prosecute under current laws.
In the report, Wuerl, who served as the bishop of Pittsburgh between 1988 and 2006, is repeatedly cited as one of the church leaders who helped to cover up the scandal, and he has faced numerous calls for his resignation, including from his own clergy.
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