TEHRAN, Feb 16 -Former US Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has been expelled by Pope Francis from the Roman Catholic priesthood after he was found guilty of sexual crimes against teenage boys and adult males, according to the Vatican.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -A Vatican statement on Saturday said the crimes of McCarrick, the Archbishop of Washington, DC, from 2001 to 2006, were made more serious by “the aggravating factor of the abuse of power”.
McCarrick, 88, resigned from the Vatican’s College of Cardinals in July, became the first Roman Catholic bishop in nearly 100 years to lose the title of cardinal for sex abuse.
He has now become the highest profile church figure to be dismissed from the priesthood in modern times.
With the ruling, Pope Francis appears to be sending a signal that even those in the highest echelons of the hierarchy will be held accountable.
Defrocking means means that McCarrick can no longer call himself a priest or celebrate the sacraments, although he would be allowed to administer to a person on the verge of death in an emergency.
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