This archive report was first published on 27 December 2019.
On February 13, 2019, Pope Francis made history by defrocking Theodore McCarrick, a US cardinal, over allegations of abusing a teenager 50 years earlier.
McCarrick's downfall was not the first time he faced accusations of misconduct. He had already been known for having sex with adult seminarians, and Pope Francis was accused of ignoring sexual assault accusations against McCarrick for years.
According to a report by the Nyakundi Report, McCarrick sent checks totaling more than $600,000 to clerics in Rome and elsewhere between 2001 and 2019. The funds were drawn from the 'Archbishop's Special Fund' in Washington, which enabled him to raise money from wealthy Catholic donors with little oversight.
Among the recipients of McCarrick's generosity were people directly involved in assessing misconduct claims against him. The checks were used for various purposes, including donations to the Vatican's powerful secretary of state and papal charities.
McCarrick's gifts to the Vatican's top officials included $90,000 to Pope John Paul II between 2001 and 2005 and $291,000 to Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Vatican clerics who received checks told the Nyakundi Report that McCarrick's gifts were used for proper purposes.
However, the report also raised questions about the Vatican's handling of sex abuse allegations. In January 2019, a Vatican court found McCarrick guilty of 'sins against the Sixth Commandment with minors and with adults, with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power.'
McCarrick was the first cardinal ever to be defrocked for sex abuse, and he had already been barred from practicing as a priest in July 2018.
