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<p>Another diocese, another list.</p><p>As you will read elsewhere in today&#8217;s edition, the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., has released the names of more than two dozen clergy members it says have been &#8220;credibly accused&#8221; of sexually abusing minors, according to the Associated Press.</p><p>The revelation comes just four days after Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who formerly presided over the Diocese of Pittsburgh during a period of abuse there.</p><p>Meanwhile, Wuerl&#8217;s D.C. predecessor, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, resigned from the College of Cardinals and retired from public life amid accusations that he abused an altar boy and several young seminary students studying to be priests during his time as a priest in New York and a bishop in New Jersey.</p><p>The newly released Washington accusations date back as far as 1948, and only three of the alleged abuses took place after 2000. The report names 28 clergy members and three priests who were part of religious orders, but served in Washington parishes or schools.</p><p>To put this in context:</p><p>&#8226; The vast majority of those accusations were in decades past, prior to the tenures of McCarrick (2000-2006) and Wuerl (2006-2018) in Washington.</p><p>&#8226; Archdiocesan spokesman Ed McFadden <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2018/10/15/washington-catholic-archdiocese-releases-names-priests-credibly-accused-abuse-since/?utm_term=.ebe75bff71d5" target="_blank">told the Washington Post</a> that the list is a first step, and more information will be released in a process that &#8220;will take months.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; As the AP noted, McCarrick continued to rise through the church hierarchy for decades despite two lawsuits against him and multiple warnings to church officials about his behavior.</p><p>&#8226; Wuerl&#8217;s history is more ambiguous. During his tenure in Pittsburgh (1988-2006), he was known for taking a &#8220;zero tolerance&#8221; stance against abusers, and behaving with compassion and concern toward victims and their families. The Pennsylvania Grand Jury report released earlier this year acknowledged his efforts, but also suggested Wuerl had allowed some abusers to remain in their posts or be moved to other dioceses.</p><p>All of these points remind us that what allegedly took place in Washington happened under the tenures of several bishops; that bishops, like the priests they supervised, have often been moved from place to place even as accusations of direct abuse or abuse by subordinates hung over them; and that patterns of abuse and cover-ups bear unmistakable similarities not just here in the United States, but across the Catholic world.</p><p>As the AP notes, the D.C. list includes several priests who were accused of abuse and convicted, and some who were accused, &#8220;treated&#8221; and returned to work only to be accused again. Some were removed from their clerical positions or the ministry at some point.</p><p>Doesn&#8217;t that sound familiar?</p><p>In a &#8220;Letter to the Faithful&#8221; released last week, Wuerl repeatedly apologized and asked for &#8220;forgiveness on behalf of Church leadership from the victims who were again wounded when they saw these priests and bishops both moved and promoted.&#8221;</p><p>Some of the faithful might be disappointed, to say the least, with the words Pope Francis wrote to Wuerl on accepting his resignation:</p><p>&#8220;You have sufficient elements to justify your actions and distinguish between what it means to cover up crimes or not to deal with problems, and to commit some mistakes,&#8221; Francis wrote. &#8220;However, your nobility has led you not to choose this way of defense. Of this, I am proud and thank you.&#8221;</p><p>Reacting to Wuerl&#8217;s gentle good night, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said it best: &#8220;We can&#8217;t rely on the church to fix itself.&#8221;</p><p><em> &#8212; Times Leader</em></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">In this Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010 file photo, Pope Francis, left, talks with Papal Foundation Chairman Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washinghton, D.C., during a meeting with members of the Papal Foundation at the Vatican. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_121067320-8b790af03826410dab44582b5b62b060-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>In this Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010 file photo, Pope Francis, left, talks with Papal Foundation Chairman Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washinghton, D.C., during a meeting with members of the Papal Foundation at the Vatican. </caption0><photoCredit0>L&#8217;Osservatore Romano | Pool Photo via AP </photoCredit0></div></div>

Our View: D.C. church abuse revelations another reminder of broken system that protects its own