Former Pittsburgh bishop says he 'forgot' about sex abuse allegations against colleague

The Washington area’s embattled Catholic leader, Donald Wuerl, under fire in recent days for untruthful statements regarding what he knew about the alleged sexual misconduct of his predecessor, Theodore McCarrick,
apologized late Tuesday, saying he forgot he knew about the allegations and that it was “never the intention to provide false information.”

Pope Francis received Wuerl’s retirement as archbishop last fall as the Cardinal Wuerl was being pummeled by criticism over his handling of abuse cases when he was the Pittsburgh bishop, and also by suspicions that he was not being fully honest about what he knew of the McCarrick scandal.

In the letter, Wuerl said he forgot he was told in 2004 about Ciolek’s complaint against McCarrick, which he said was included in a report sent to the Vatican.

A Washington Post investigation about the grand jury report found that while Wuerl built a reputation as an early advocate for removing pedophile priests from parishes, at times he allowed accused clerics to continue as priests in less visible roles without alerting authorities or other officials.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/01/former-pittsburgh-bishop-says-he-forgot-about-child-sex-abuse-allegations-against-colleague.html