Pope Francis on Aug. 26 said he “will not say a single word” about claims made by a former Vatican ambassador that he covered up sexual-abuse allegations against then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of the United States.
The claims, outlined in an 11-page letter by Carlo Maria Viganò, a former Vatican ambassador to the United States, describe how Viganò warned the pope in 2013 about the allegations and sanctions imposed on McCarrick by former Pope Benedict XVI.
Viganò, 77, wrote that Pope Francis didn’t respond to his exchange with him and, instead, allowed McCarrick to continue in his role as a prominent public figure in the Roman Catholic Church. Viganò also accused several other senior church officials of complicity, in regard to McCarrick.
Pope Francis, while on his plane flying back to Rome from Dublin after a two-day trip to Ireland, refused to comment on the Aug. 22 letter.
“I will not say a word about that. I think that the communique speaks for itself,” he said on Aug. 26.
Appearing to avoid the question further, the pope told journalists to “read the communique attentively and make your own judgment,” in reference to Viganò’s lengthy letter. “You have sufficient journalistic capacity to reach your own conclusions.”
